SIDELINE TO SIDELINE
Jen Hale Covers the NFL, NBA, and the Future of Young Women in New Orleans By Andrew Alexander
TV sportscaster Jen Hale is also the founder of Sideline Pass. 6
LSU Preview | Where Y'at Magazine
Born in New Orleans, and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Hale entered LSU with dreams of becoming a lawyer, until she caught the journalism bug. Hale joined LSU’s student television station, Tiger TV, serving as a political analyst during a gubernatorial election. She fell in love with reporting and broadcast journalism and promptly switched her major. “It was such an intriguing career as opposed to spending most of my time behind a desk, to be out and about where the action was, telling stories, and telling stories accurately,” Hale said. After graduate school at Northwestern University, Hale began her career in Monroe, Louisiana, with subsequent stops in Baton Rouge and Birmingham, where she landed a role freelancing for MSNBC. Her first foray onto the national broadcasting scene coincided with Hurricane Katrina, her first major assignment. Hale proved to be an asset during the network’s coverage of the devastating event because of her familiarity with New Orleans. Following her assignment covering Hurricane Katrina, WVUE, the FOX-affiliate in New Orleans, offered her a morning anchor position. Wanting to be part of the city’s rebuilding process, Hale leapt at the opportunity, which would turn out to be a major inflection point in her career. “I’ve always loved sports,” Hale recalled. “I’m the first born and my poor daddy didn’t know what to do with a girl. We talked fixing things and sports and traditional guy things. I probably knew about first downs, touchdowns, and penalties before I ever played with my princess doll.” While working for WVUE, she was approached by friends from her LSU days who had become leaders in the athletic department. Her colleagues were trying to zhuzh up the LSU athletics website with enhanced digital content, and knowing her rabid fandom for LSU football, offered the former LSU cheerleader a gig interviewing alumni and guest celebrities on the sidelines during games. Jen Hale, sideline sports reporter, was born. “I never thought of (sports reporting) as a career path,” Hale said. “I always thought of it as more of a hobby, a passion.” WVUE was impressed by her Saturday hobby interviewing LSU dignitaries and sent her to cover morning practices for Saints training camp following her morning anchor responsibilities. While covering the Saints, she was recommended by people inside the franchise as a candidate to join the NFL on FOX. “Ironically, it’s the easiest job I’ve ever gotten,” Hale said. “I never applied for it, they offered it to me. I almost hate telling that story because anyone in media has war stories about stalking news directors in parking lots to hand off their resume, and I did plenty of that, but this just worked out that way.” In 2011, Hale began her first season with the NFL on FOX, launching her into a new stratosphere of the sports
ROMNEY CARUSO
Jen Hale didn’t always know she wanted to be a sports journalist, but we’re sure glad she is.
