Written by Marlowe Dunn Flom

On September 18, 2024, the Florida Public Relations Student Capital Chapter (FPRA) hosted  Jeremy Willis, an ESPN Senior editor, writer and Florida State University (FSU) alumnus, to discuss sports journalism and media with aspiring public relations professionals.

The meeting marked the professional student organization’s first guest speaker meeting of the 2024-2025 academic year.

Willis has always been passionate about athletics and writing. While attending FSU as an English major he explored these interests as the sports editor at FSView & Florida Flambeau and as the equipment manager for the FSU football team. Since graduating from FSU in 2004, he has served in various roles at ESPN for 19 years and is currently a senior editor and writer. He credits much of his success to his undergraduate years. At that time, Willis was perfecting his journalistic writing abilities in his classes and involvements. He encouraged students to use these experiences to learn what stories they wanted to tell.

”My best advice for a lot of young people going into these [media-related] fields is to try a lot of it…you don’t know what you’re best at until you start doing it,” Willis said.

It was made clear to students that knowing how best they can tell a story is the key to excelling in sports media.

Willis underlined the importance of giving back to the next generation.

“It’s important and should be the responsibility of [alumni] to engage with FSU students. As a community of students and alumni, we are connected across generations representing FSU,” Willis said.

For more information on FPRA, follow them on Instagram @fprastudent_tlh.