ESPN Online Producer CJ Holley speaks to UMD Students

A University of Maryland graduate spoke to journalism students about his love of his job at ESPN and his optimism for the future of the online journalism industry.

CJ Holley, a native of Columbia, Md., and 2005 graduate of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism with a degree in broadcast, spoke to a crowd of close to 40 journalism students about his experiences as a working journalist.

Holley, who works as an associate editor for ESPN's web content in Bristol, Conn., told students how much he really enjoys what he does.

"I love my job, " said Holley.  "I enjoy being there.  I enjoy talking about sports."

Holley told the students about his daily tasks including receiving breaking news from a number of reporters and converting the information into fully presentable stories for the web.

Holley also spoke of the differences he has experienced as a reporter who has worked in live TV and also for the web, saying that the web lacks the intense drama and high stress of producing live television content but that web still has its fast paced, stressful moments.

Holley highlighted his employment of being a part of what he sees as a growing medium in that of online journalism, saying the web does "insane" numbers.

According to Holley, each hour the online staff at ESPN receives a report about the traffic the site is getting and that stories have received over 100,000 hits in their first hour on the web.

Holley also spoke to students about his days at Maryland, his experiences interning and finding his place in the journalism industry. 

Holley spoke of his multiple internships in anything from local television to being an online sports intern for The Baltimore Sun.

Holley got his first job in his last semester of school as a sports producer for washingtonpost.com and worked there for over five years before accepting a job offer from ESPN in April 2010.

"Holley's story shows online journalism is the place to be in the media world," said junior print journalism major Matt McNab.  "Print media has struggled for years yet he has worked for ESPN and [The Washington Post].

"Both places are dream jobs for anyone."