The Los Angeles Times Jim Murray Workshop Develops Young Sportswriters From Across the U.S.

LOS ANGELES, May 6, 2004 – Twenty-seven of the nation’s most talented college journalists today began a sports workshop conducted by the Los Angeles Times in memory of the legendary sportswriter Jim Murray.

In its second year, the Jim Murray Sports Journalism Workshop has become an integral component of The Times’ program to develop talented student journalists from high school through their college years. Thirty students attended the workshop last year.

Over three days in the tuition-free workshop, students learn from some of the best in the business how a major newspaper sports department functions, how to work a sports beat and how to write a sports column. Students will attend an Anaheim Angels baseball game, interview an Angel’s official, and the best stories from that will earn paid freelance assignments at The Times for the winners.

Staged in conjunction with the 15th running of the $350,000 Jim Murray Memorial Handicap at Hollywood Park — one of the richest turf races in the country — the workshop features a special emphasis on reporting from the racetrack. Horse racing was among the many sports that Murray wrote about with passion and authority.

Murray, who wrote for The Times for 37 years, died in 1998.

A legend among readers and journalists, Murray is one of only four sportswriters to date to win a Pulitzer Prize. He was named national sportswriter of the year 12 times in 16 years. Workshop participants learn from his example through discussions with former colleagues and analysis of his columns, including one that’s a primer on how to write a sports column.

“Jim Murray set a standard in sports writing that he maintained over many, many years,” said Times Sports Editor Bill Dwyre, noting that Murray is a timeless role model for aspiring young sportswriters. “After learning about Murray and his work in last year’s workshop, the students were walking on air when they left here.”

Workshop participants are selected by Dwyre from applications submitted by sophomore and junior students nominated by journalism faculty at colleges across the United States.

The Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and the winner of 35 Pulitzer Prizes, including five this year – the second-largest yearly total in the history of the awards. The Times publishes five daily regional editions including the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange and Ventura counties, the San Fernando Valley, and an Inland Empire edition covering Riverside and San Bernardino counties as well as a National edition. Additional information about The Times is available at www.latimes.com/mediacenter.