Cari Champion, a broadcast journalist and television host known for her work on Tennis Channel and ESPN, joins Podcasts contributors and sisters Lauren and Olivia Miller.

Lauren Miller: Hello and welcome to Bruin to Bruin. On this show, we sit down with accomplished members of the UCLA community. My name is Lauren Miller.

Olivia Miller: And I am Olivia Miller. We are Podcasts contributors for the Daily Bruin.

LM: Today we have a very special guest joining us, Cari Champion. Cari Champion is an accomplished journalist and television personality. She started as a contributor for the Daily Bruin at UCLA. Cari has worked as a reporter and anchor on various networks, such as the Tennis Channel and ESPN. She has also had her own show that premiered on Amazon Prime.

OM: Cari has showcased her versatility by venturing into podcasting with her show Naked with Cari Champion. On this show, she hosts accomplished entertainment and sports legends to discuss life-altering circumstances that have shaped them into who they are and who they want to become. She also works on CNN co-hosting a show that discusses sports, entertainment and politics.

So what inspired you to apply for a position at the Daily Bruin?

Cari Champion: Oh, that’s a great question. So there was an internship program, if you will. And at the time, Matea Gold was the editor. And I would always read the Daily Bruin. I don’t — and you know, I would actually get the paper or just be sitting around on campus. And I was like, well, I do want to be a journalist. So let me see. Now I remember I submitted, they gave me a test. I don’t know if I had to write about — Kerckhoff was an open student, I don’t know, student studying hours, it was something of that effect. And I wrote it, I wrote what I thought was a good article. And then they looked at it and they were like, this was not good. It was not good at all, but we’re still going to let you do it. And that was it. And I wrote like three or four articles for them. I wasn’t great. I probably even, you know, more than that. But from what I remember, it was just a really good experience for me to start. And I was like, Oh, I don’t want to be a newspaper reporter. I remember thinking it’s good that I learned to write, but I don’t necessarily know if I want to be a newspaper reporter.

OM: So did you join the news or what was your position?

CC: I did. No, you mean for Daily Bruin? Oh, yeah. No, I was a reporter. But I remember thinking at the time, I don’t wanna write for a paper. If I had to, great, but that wasn’t gonna be my trajectory. This, what I learned when I was at the Daily Bruin, was just the basics of how to tell a story, who, what, when, where, how, how to listen, how to pay attention. It was just a great training ground. You know what I mean? It was really, really good. And I think everyone should try. And even if you don’t want to be a journalist, everyone should try to write for their student paper.

LM: It really makes sense. No, I completely agree. So my quick question that I have for you was what was your favorite story that you covered while you were working at the Daily Bruin?

CC: You know, I can’t say that I had a favorite story. I’ll tell you why, because it was also fast and quick for me. And I was always nervous. I was always nervous. And I remember just being in awe of the process and watching how everyone in that, in that newsroom, I’ll call it a newsroom, how everyone moves so fast. And I was really more of a student of the process as opposed to, oh, this is my favorite story. But I do remember, like I told you, I wrote the story about the student hours. These stories were not hard hitting. When I think about it, they were just, what happens around campus? I wasn’t talking about being assaulted on campus or anything like that. They were just fun little things that were happening. You know, Taco Bell was up then. Taco Bell hours extended and things like that. Things that unlike what you all are dealing with now in real time, the news wasn’t something that I had to take really seriously. They were just really light, fluff pieces. But in the process of figuring out what the story is, who should I interview? How should I go about it? That’s what I fell in love with. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a journalist.

LM: And what year did you join the Daily Bruin?

CC: 1990… look at this, if you guys weren’t even born then. 1990… I can’t even remember, probably ’97.

LM: So were you like a junior, freshman, sophomore?

CC: I was a sophomore. Look at that, you guys, good, good question. I should have dusted up on this. So I think it was a sophomore. But I will tell you, I did do, I don’t know how you guys are on track for graduating. I was a full like fifth, sixth year senior. Like I would do, I had so many credits I had to finish. And I was in my fifth year when I graduated here, five years plus, meaning I didn’t do it. You know how sometimes you just take classes, you move your GEs, you don’t do them. I don’t know if you guys are doing that. You guys are probably a lot more focused than I was because I was not — I was like, I’m going to do this, but I had worked so many jobs. I had like five jobs. Oh my gosh. I had five jobs outside of that. That was just fun for me. I had worked on someone. I was an executive assistant for someone at the medical center. I had another job where I would go and help and at secure work security. Wow. At the student store and by security, I was the person who was like your girl shopping and like, how many do you have? You have five? Okay, here’s, here’s five. You know, you know, number five. I just had so many jobs and so many things happening that I remember. Right. I wish that I could really have an opportunity to dig in and I couldn’t. But again, I will never forget this. The foundation was so great for writing for Daily Bruin. It was this great foundation. It was like, oh, this is what I want to do. Everything seems urgent. Right. And immediate.

LM: That’s so true.

CC: Everything seems urgent and immediate, and I loved it so much.

LM: Do you still keep in touch with any of the people who worked with you?

CC: Matea Gold and I, who was the editor. She’s, I don’t know if you know her. She’d be great to have on. She was the editor-in-chief at the time, I don’t know if for a year or two, she went on to be, and still is, one of the most respected journalists in Washington, DC Wow. I do believe she wrote for the Times and the Post. She covers politics heavily. She’s really, really smart and well respected. And her and I exchanged a few text messages, and we always talk about just, she doesn’t remember helping me, but I remember her telling me when she was reading one of my first drafts. She was like, oh, nope, this is awful. Nope. She was just so very blunt to the point. And I didn’t take it personally. I just appreciated that because you need that to so you can get better.That’s true. And that’s great. So that would be the only person that I still keep in contact with that was a part of Daily Bruin.

LM: And when was the last time you saw her? Or talked to her, yeah.

CC: Probably three years ago. She was covering a big story. She was, if you read her byline, heavy. This is what she was born to do. She was born to be a newspaper journalist. She was born to write for very established papers. And she really, really understands the art of telling a great story. Like she’s really awesome. If I was in charge of all the great alumni, she would be, her jersey would be in the rafters because she’s really that great. You guys should look her up, she’s special.

LM: Okay, Olivia, we gotta put that on our notes.

CC: She has, she on campus would have this big red hair, like curly red hair. It was so big and you couldn’t deny her. Like you couldn’t deny. I’m sure you’re like, there’s her red hair, her freckles. And she was always so on top of how to change the world. Like that was her focus. Like How do I change the world? How do I tell really great stories? Issues that were happening on campus. There was a lot of protesting on campus then for different propositions. And so she would always be there covering the stories, getting the students’ opinions. I mean, she just really was, she was a force. And I always admired her. And I knew that I would do what I’m doing, but just in a different way.

LM: Gotcha. Okay. Now my next question that I have for you is, I believe, was it during your junior year at UCLA, you went to Washington, DC, and you interned at Voices of America, and I’m curious to hear, what were your internship duties?

CC: Okay, so it was, they had an internship program where they talked about, I don’t know how many students, maybe 20 or 30, and we all had to pick where we wanted to spend our summers and they were giving out internships at different places. I ended up with Voice of America because we had a really good program with them. So Voice of America, I’ll explain to you, is a television and a radio station that is in DC, but it’s only heard in other parts of the country, like other parts of the world, like Africa or Asia. It was an international service because DC is the hub for all these different people who come from different parts of the country and different parts of the world and It was some of my duties. They let me do anything if I’m being honest with you. I interviewed so many people. I would say the way that you guys are doing and scheduling your own interviews. I had an interview with them. I remember Hilary Clinton came and they let me interview her And she was so sweet because I surely didn’t know what I was doing. And she was just like, great question. You know, she’s just really nice and she knew she was doing service. And I remember thinking that and years later, I’ve met her on several occasions since and I always try to remind her that she doesn’t remember. But she goes, I do remember going to Voice of American interviewing students and students interviewing me and I was like, I was one of the many. But it was great. They let you edit, they let you put your stories together, They let you go try to book the interview. They let you go out and cover stuff. Like there were protests at the mall, when you go to the mall, and not like the mall to shop, but you know, like the Lincoln monument. And she, and they let me do all of those things. It was like, here you go, keys to the castle, figure it out. To me, the best internship I’ve ever had. Ever. Ever. Because you just make all these mistakes and you just learn better.

LM: Right. Absolutely. And how long was your internship with them?

CC: It was three months. We were in DC for three months. I lived in Virginia—Ballston, Virginia, because you know it’s the DMV area, which wasn’t too far from DC. That was my first time ever going away from home too. That was like a big deal for me. Right. Like for a long period of time.

OM: Yeah. Yeah. And would you say that this internship confirmed your interest in pursuing a career in journalism?

CC: Yeah, 100%. I had already decided I was gonna do it. I just didn’t know if I was gonna be good at it. And I felt good at it, even though I was making mistakes. I felt like, no, no, this is what I’m supposed to do for the rest of my life. I was really curious about people. I’m curious about their stories. I’m very curious about helping people who don’t have a voice tell their story. And believe it or not, I didn’t know this at the time. One of the key things you have to be to be a really good reporter is to be a great listener. If you are not listening or if you’re waiting to ask your next question, you’re gonna miss really good things, really good gems. And I learned that during my internship, which was insane. I couldn’t even believe I learned that. It was exciting.

LM: That’s awesome. So now moving after your time at UCLA and your early career. So, did you receive your first reporting job right after graduating from UCLA?

CC: No, no.

LM: So what were you doing in the meantime before?

CC: Oh my God, I had a bazillion jobs. I worked at Berkeley Williams Spa at the front desk. Okay. I remember graduating college and everyone was like, so are you going to be on TV right away? And I’m like, it doesn’t work that way. You know what I mean? You got to work your way up. And I worked at a local television station, worked at the Fox station in Los Angeles as an assignment editor, which is the person who decides what stories are going to be assigned to what reporters. Now, that’s a huge responsibility. You would think they would give it to someone who knew what they were doing, but they let me do it on the weekends because No one, like the reporters in LA specifically, right? See, there’s a hundred plus markets. LA is like market number two. So by then, if you made it to the number two market in the country, you should know how to get your own story. So they didn’t really, you know, they kind of let me pretend like I was, you know, assigning the stories, but the reporters pretty much knew what they were doing when they came in. So I did that part time. I was also, I spent a lot of time chasing after reporters going out on stories with them because I wanted to put a resume reel together where I was like in the field, doing the reporting. Right. And so it was great. It was a great experience. And then finally, I put together, I had a resume reel and I remember it’s like two, maybe a year and a half after I graduated, maybe even two. And I had one resume reel left instead of sending them out over the internet. And I got one call from West Virginia and they were like, oh, okay, can you come tomorrow and be a reporter in West Virginia for the local ABC station? And I was like, yep, I’ll be there tomorrow. You know, I’m here. And my family were like, what are you going to do in West Virginia? You’re from LA. Don’t go, don’t go. And I’m like, I have to go. I have to go. It’s a part of my story.

LM: And following that question, I’m curious to know when you were in West Virginia, because that was your first reporting job, what would you say were the highs and the lows of that job?

CC: The lows are you miss your family ’cause I was so far away from family and friends and I didn’t have community. I was living with another reporter who needed a roommate and I loved living there. I loved her a lot, but I remember being really, really sad. It was also sad because I was in West Virginia. Wait. No offense.

LM: Is there a lot to do?

CC: And there wasn’t much to do. And no offense to anyone from West Virginia, but you have to imagine coming from UCLA, like Los Angeles, California to West Virginia. It was like Bluefield, Beckley, the market was like 150. It was a really small town. It was a culture shock to say the least. Right. So that might have been the hardest part, but the best part was, again, when you start off in these places and they just want you to figure it out, you get, you learn the job better instead of having somebody micromanage you and tell you, oh, you did this wrong or you didn’t do this right, or we’re going to ease you into it. They’re like, here’s a car, here’s a camera, here’s a tripod, good luck. You know what I mean? And that was it, and I did it. And it was so amazing. So I wouldn’t change that for the world. It was honestly the best experience I’ve ever had.

OM: How long did you do that for?

CC: I did that for a little less than a year because the way it works in local news and you get your first job, you just got to get on TV. You just have to be on TV and you just have to have somebody trust that you know what you’re saying. And then once you figure out the basics, you try to move to a different market. And so that started my jumping around. I have lived everywhere, worked at different stations, worked in different markets, till you finally get to a place where you’re like, I can stay here and settle for a little while. And then depending on your energy and what you want for your life, you decide if you want to do more than that. And I think I have always been such a free spirit. So I wanted to always do more. And so when I finally got to, and I wanted to jump ahead, but when I finally got to the tennis channel, I’m loving it. I’m like, Oh God, I love tennis. This is so great. I knew nothing about tennis, by the way.

LM: And that was while you were working in Palm Beach, correct? You had a reporting job.

CC: Oh, West Palm Beach. No. Okay. So after I left West Virginia, I went back to LA and I worked as an assignment editor and I also worked as a producer, right? Because I couldn’t get a job in front of the camera. And I worked at E-Entertainment working on a beauty show as an assistant producer. And I worked as an assignment editor in the local newsrooms. And then finally I went to West Palm. I got a job like after I came back to LA and I was kind of working odd jobs for like six months. I got a job in West Palm and I was there for four years. That was a long time. I didn’t even think I’d be there for four years, but I was a weekend anchor and reporter and I loved it. And I got to cover a lot of things and I was finally getting paid decent money. I wasn’t feeling like I was gonna not eat, you know.

LM: Yeah.

CC: And then I left there and I went to Atlanta and I loved Atlanta. I was there for two years, but it wasn’t gonna be long. But that was my first like big job, which I learned a lot. Like it was just a different environment. And I always tell the story. I was like Atlanta taught me two things, not that what I did wasn’t my identity because I literally had the most traumatic but amazing experience. I got fired and rehired in 24 hours.

LM: What?

CC: Yeah. I was, I had, was a weekend anchor and I remember we were on a commercial break and this is a lesson we should all know, your mic is always hot. And during the commercial break, I was just shooting the crap with my coworkers. I don’t know if you guys can curse on here. And I was shooting the crap with my coworkers, and I was like, and it wasn’t a curse word, but then it was a curse word. I said, I said, mother sucka. And they were like, did I hear her? And you could even hear it. It wasn’t like I was looking on the camera, but I said, mother sucka. And my boss was like, oh, you don’t know. And, but the beauty of it, It was so outright. You think about it now. So outrageous. People do far more than that.

LM: Right. Yeah. It’s like times were different.

CC: Times are just like—are you kidding? Like we got so it’s like, it’s ridiculous to even think that this is an issue. If I’m honest with you, my boss probably just didn’t like me. And it was so much outrage, public outrage, so funny. So much public outrage that people were protesting in front of the station in Atlanta.

LM: Oh my gosh, really?

CC: It was crazy. And writing about it, and it was a thing. You know, You can’t find it anymore, but it was like a thing. And then they gave me my job back. And then when my contract was up, they just didn’t renew it. And so that’s when I moved to LA, moved back home and started working for the tennis channel.

OM: So your mic was hot and it was still recording and broadcasting to everyone?

CC: To everyone. So like you guys, your mic is always hot. So you just always have to assume your mic is always hot. So if I am, no matter what I’m doing, I just assume my mic is always hot. You know, like, oh, we’re done recording. I’m like, we’re not, we’re never, The mic is always hot. You just always assume that it happens to everybody. It’s not one person that I haven’t worked with. Small, famous, large, whatever, not large, a big market. Rather they all, you know, you just forget you get so comfortable and you’re like, wait a second, But cursing doesn’t get you fired anymore because everyone, you know, it’s a different sensibility.

LM: Right.

CC: Yeah. Right. If you murder someone, perhaps, or, you know, animal cruelty, you know, nudes, things like that will get you fired. But not so much, not even that. And now, I mean, I know people who’ve had those kind of, you know, viral moments, but it was a different time. And it wasn’t even that long ago. It honestly was not. It was like 2006, I think, 2007. And I’m all like, things have really changed. I mean, drastically.

LM: That’s so true.

CC: Yeah. Like you could do anything now. Anything. So it’s funny. We all often laugh at that. It’s a funny thing.

LM: So my other question. So when did you get into tennis? Were you covering it in Florida? Because I thought you were in Florida?

CC: Well, yeah, because when I was in Florida, I worked at West Palm. I covered a lot of tennis. I covered a lot of golf because those are the things you do in Florida. And Tiger was very, very popular at the time. Obviously the Williams sisters were very popular And so I would cover all of their stories as a local news reporter They didn’t have anybody specifically just assigned to them and I then when I got back home to LA after I was unceremoniously unrenewed, not renewed for my last gig in Atlanta. I just, people were just like, hey, do you want to try out this new thing? It’s called the Tennis Channel. It’s, they’re looking for people to report. And I know you cover all things, So why don’t you try it? And I was like, sure. And I went and I auditioned for the job. And I thought this is gonna be my entryway into a different type of journalism. I wasn’t really thinking that I would do sports full time. I thought I would cover that just as a general assignment reporter. But then I started covering tennis and I loved it and I traveled and I went to the French Open. And I just covered all these. I went to all these amazing places. All my friends were foreign. I was like WhatsApp before it was popular. I would say, yeah, I’m on WhatsApp as well.

LM: Yeah, I’m global.

CC: And it was so nice. It really just changed. It changed my whole life and my whole trajectory in terms of what I wanted to do.

LM: Yeah. And my question also, when you were trying out for that position at the tennis channel, were you confident that you were gonna get it?

CC: I usually go in thinking I’m gonna get it. Like, it’s rare that I don’t think I’m gonna get something. I just go in with that mindset because if I feel that, then it usually happens. But if I don’t get it, I’m like, oh, it’s not set for me. But when I was auditioning, I remembered these names and the prompter was so long, right? It was like Svetlana Kuznetsova, you know? Martina Navratilova. And I’m like, OK, so you just want this to roll off my tongue? They’re like, no big joke of it. She was just all these different names and, you know, or, you know, Guy El-Monte, he was a very popular French tennis player. And that was when I was like, OK, hold on. I was like, so just so we’re clear. And I saw another lady auditioning for it who worked at ESPN. And I did not know at the time that she was on air and had just left ESPN and she was auditioning. And we both, I thought it was gonna be one of us because she was so good at it. And she had more experience than me within covering sports. But then I heard somebody say, you know, while they were, they didn’t close the door because they were looking at everyone who was auditioning and they were like, I like her last name. And I was like, okay, I think I got it. It was really funny. It was really funny. And I was like, I think I got it. And then they ended up hiring three women for one role. We were all supposed to do a court report. And then they just rotated us because they loved all three of us. And so they rotated us. One week was my week. The next week was the other young ladies week. The next week was that, so you could imagine it was a lot of competition. Everyone was like, who’s gonna get the full time job, right? We were all fighting to see who could get it. And it worked out for all of us. It all worked out. Everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing right now. Everyone is very, like one lady’s an actress now, one of the other girls is an actress, the other girl’s still a host. Like it’s just, it worked out for everybody in the way it was supposed to work out. But that was my entryway into sports and really kind of changing my career.

OM: And what was the first tennis match that you covered?

CC: Oh, Indian Wells. Have you guys heard of that?

LM: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

CC: So I went to Indian Wells and Palm Springs and I covered a lot of the pre events that you said they have a lot of pre parties. Well, just tennis was a different sport back then. They still do it. But like the celebrities of the sport are just readily available. The Rafa Nadal was there. Novak was there hanging out. Roger was there. All these then they were just like, hey, yeah, sure. And you could interview them. And I was interviewing them after the court. I was doing the on-court interviews. And I was so nervous. And all the things that I was telling you about, I realized that I should have done. I wasn’t listening to what they were saying. I don’t know. I was just trying to get the score right. I was trying to make sure I had the score right.

LM: Right. The score gets confused, especially with Add. Yeah. Oh, forget it.

CC: And thank God I wasn’t calling. I was just like, OK, so you won in three sets. I figured it out after a while. And I had a lot of help. Tennis Channel really gave me a researcher and people to help me. I figured it out. I really, truly did figure it out. But it was a tough task. It really was. And it’s funny because Stan Smith, which, you know, the sneakers that documentaries out in space, it’s based after him, it’s on and they interviewed me for it. And I started, I had filmed that maybe four years ago. I can’t believe it took this long to get out. But it was interesting to see that I went from, you know, someone who didn’t know that much about tennis then that you’re interviewing me for documentaries now.

LM: Yeah. Wow, that’s amazing.

CC: And I can say, mother sucka now and not get fired.

LM: Boom.

CC: Boom. Take that, motha sucka.

LM: I love that. So in 2012, you left the Tennis Channel for an opportunity with ESPN. And you were in charge of monitoring debates on the First Take show. And what was your strategy for moderating the debates?

CC: You know, I didn’t have a strategy to moderate. In fact, I had never done it. And I don’t think that role was really a role. I think I, to be honest with you, there was a guy who was, who did it before me. His name was Jay Crawford, and he was very good. And I remember they were saying he’s not doing it anymore. He doesn’t want to. And I thought to myself, why is he so good? Why is he not doing it anymore? And when I came in, two things were a challenge. One, I was a woman. Right. And two, I was sitting next to men who had been in this business, like, respectively together 50 years. And they were looking at me like, what are you about to do? And so it was, there was no strategy. It was just to have them trust me, watch the sports. I can tell when people don’t watch sports, Like I had to watch games in order to understand what they wanted to discuss and find the storyline. So I had to watch a lot of football, a lot of basketball. I still do it just as a habit on Sundays or just for football, like Sundays, I would just sit down, eat, bring my friends over and we’re watching the games, we’re on social media. That’s all I did. And so my strategy, if there was one, was to just build a reputation where they believed in me and they knew that I knew what I was talking about. You know what I mean? And paying attention. I mean, honestly, that’s the only way people, I remember there’s a guy, his name is Ian Eagle, he’s a well-known broadcaster in sports and I remember saying, Ian, what’s your advice before I started the job? And he said, just listen. He’s like, those guys talk a lot and they’re gonna wanna know that you’re paying attention to what they care about in their storylines. So just listen, Watch the games and listen. Best advice I’ve ever been given, and it’s the only thing that I do every time I start a new job is just listen as I’m, or even when I’m interviewing somebody, I just, I’m locked in, what are you saying? Okay, great, like the other day, I just interviewed David Beckham. And he was talking and I’m just listening, trying not to be so consumed with how beautiful he is. Yeah, you’re like, cool. I’m like, I’m so glad Victoria’s not here. Yeah. But I was just really serious, I was just listening. He was such a thoughtful speaker. He had so much to say. He went through so much. And I think at the end of the interview, he goes, thank you for paying attention. Thank you for listening to my story. And I was like, it just makes a difference.

LM: Yeah, absolutely. It is a difference. Because people don’t listen now, or they just tune things out.

CC: I think it’s a big thing. Well, you can’t do this. It’s too much going on. Like I have fights, I don’t know if you guys have ADHD.

LM: I have ADHD. Oh my goodness, ADHD.

CC: Yeah, I’m like, I can’t even like focus. And then I have to find, I have to find, I have to dig deep to find the focus. I’m like, pay attention, Cari.

LM: It takes a lot of strength.

CC: It does.

OM: Really, you’re like just channeling it.

CC: Yeah. Or not to be nervous.

LM: Yes, that’s a big thing. Because sometimes too, especially when you have an ADHD, the anxiety with the ADHD, that is not helpful.

CC: Yeah, yeah. And it’s hard not to be nervous. Like I still interview people and I get nerves. I don’t get nervous, but I get nerves.

LM: We’re a little nervous right now.

CC: Well, yeah, it makes sense, but that’s also, but that’s also good because I mean, as you’re paying attention to it, you’re on like you’re ready. You know what I mean? You got to harness that good energy of nerves. But, You know, so many times when I interviewed Kobe, may he rest in peace, I was nervous. I was nervous. I was just like, I’ve, you know, I grew up watching you and I’ve seen you and we’ve talked before, but this, the sit down, in my mind, I’m like, I’m overthinking, am I listening? Pay attention, pay attention. All things you learn as you do it over reputation and repetition. Those two things are important. The repetition is just keep doing it. The more you guys do this, it’ll just be like no big deal. No big deal. Just comes naturally.

LM: Well, hopefully we, you know, you’re such an amazing speaker. You’re incredible. So I’m putting my mental notes right now.

CC: You guys are there. I’m telling you, when I was in UCLA, writing for the Daily Bruin was great, but I did not have this experience that you guys have. And I don’t necessarily know if it would change, you know, me getting my, whether I got a first job or not, but it’s just, you guys are ahead of the game in so many ways. And I don’t know if you even get it. Like it’s so, it’s, it’s wonderful to see. So I’m good for you. I’m like, at least you guys have this and even learning the tech and doing all the stuff.

OM: Yes. All of that.

CC: Because what you want to do when you get your very first TV job or your very first podcast, what you want to do is learn every aspect. I want to learn to be smart with tech. I want to learn the camera. I want to learn, I want to learn, oh, I don’t like the way that looks. Can we make like, for instance, when I fill my podcast, I didn’t like the visuals. I was like, how do we make the coloring look different? And my editor goes, we can make it cooler, cooler does this. Now those are questions you wouldn’t normally ask, but, or when you said turn that air conditioning off, right? Like that’s something too we should always be aware of. It just makes it makes the listening experience better.

LM: Oh no, 100%. I completely agree with you. So then going on to my other question, along with moderating the debates, how did you keep them productive? Because those are two very strong personalities.

CC: How did you do anything? I was like, please don’t be giving me a hard time today. Before we, before we go on air, I’m like, can you guys be nice to me today?

LM: Yeah. Did they give you a hard time?

CC: They didn’t give me a hard time. They just are what you have to realize that it’s still, there’s a lot of misogyny in sports. No matter how many times you see a woman sitting at the anchor desk, it just is not a woman’s world. No matter what they want it to be, it just isn’t. And you have to, back to my original thing, earn the respect and they won’t give it to you. You have to earn it. Like when I say it is earned, they wanna hear you talk, they wanna hear you write things. Like I had to write all of my intro, I write everything, but I think back to being a writer with the Bruin, I had to write all of my script and my copy. So if you see me on camera talking, I wrote it. And they write all your scripts, all my stuff, because I just want it in my voice. I want it to sound like me unless there’s something where I could get sued. Like, so if we’re talking about something legal and I use Brett Favre, like we talked about Brett Favre and how they were trying to sue him and said he did all these things. When someone’s being accused of something, you wanna make sure that you’re taking it verbatim from the accusations. You can’t just, you can’t. You can get sued. You can’t add it. Yeah, you can’t just add, but I think he killed two people, we’re not sure. Yeah. You know, or something like that. You have to be very clear. So those are the things that I take direct from text, but in terms of just talking, I write it on my own because you want it in your voice. And that comes with time. That just does. And that’s how I think I really earned their respect because they started listening to the words that I was saying when I was writing and they knew that I knew the storylines and they knew that I had done my homework and I spent the day watching the game. So that’s how I earned their respect.

LM: Ok, I see. And then going on in 2015, you became an anchor on SportsCenter.
And how did you adjust your approach and preparation from hosting a debate show to being an anchor?

CC: Oh, you know, that’s where I live. I live as an anchor. Because hosting the debate show was really just me teeing up a topic and letting them go at it. I was really much, I was a quarterback and I was facilitating, I was throwing, I was passing the ball, I was a point guard. I just, that was my job. But as an anchor, you are an anchor. You hold the ship down literally. You sit there and you are the person that studies the ship. And so as a result, I felt real comfortable because I was writing my own script. I knew where we were going. I was driving the bus, if you will. So the adjustment really wasn’t significant because I was a weekend anchor in Florida, you know, I was an anchor. I anchored at my, you know—

LM: Wait, did you anchor your first job in West Virginia?

CC: No, I didn’t. I anchored a little at Tennis Channel. So I had an anchoring experience. When I was in Florida, I was a weekend anchor for four years. So I wasn’t nervous. It was just the material that I was covering. Sports is different. People can tell when you don’t know what you’re talking about.

LM: Right.

CC: You can’t fake it. You can’t be like me and I don’t go. It’s so funny. I don’t go at men online who are like, get back in the kitchen. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re a lady. Shut up lady. And I don’t. I don’t go back and forth with them because I know I know more than them. You know, I have an inside view. I know the player that I’m talking about. I know the people and everyone’s like, that’s not true. And they, you know, people wanna pull up numbers and they wanna fight you. I refuse to do that. So what I normally did was as a sports anchor, you normally have to know the story beforehand before you sit there and talk about it. So that’s why it was just really easy. I promise you, when you’re prepared, you’re never nervous. When you already know what you have to expect in terms of as much preparation as you can, you’re not nervous. You’re like, I know where I’m going in this interview. I’m going to ask this question. I’m going to go from that question to this. I’m really curious about it. And then, you know what I would do? I would, when I first started in the business, I would read a copy in the mirror. I would just take scripts from other people that I admired who I worked with and I would just read in the mirror. And I just read in the mirror so my voice sounded familiar and it made sense and I was comfortable. It’s such an old school trick, but it does help you because it’s odd watching yourself on television or it’s odd listening to yourself. Because sometimes you feel uncomfortable. You’re like, I don’t like how I sound or you’re really critical of, you know, how you sound. It’s, it’s rude. It’s silly. And it doesn’t make any sense why we’re so critical of ourselves, but we are.

LM: We’re our hardest critics.

CC: Yeah. I’m like, oh, I shouldn’t have said that.

LM: I know that’s what I do too. I replay the exact interaction in my head of when I said I’m like, I should have said this instead.

OM: Yeah.

CC: You get another chance. That’s the beauty of what we do right? You get another chance.

LM: Exactly.

CC: I’ll do it again. Okay, next time I’ll do that. That’s how I feel about it. Next time I’ll do that.

LM: Yeah. No, that’s a really good way to look at it rather than dwell on it.

CC: Oh no, to drive you insane. Yeah. The interview that I did just before this, one of the ladies was saying the same thing. She goes, I get so mad when I don’t, I’m like, don’t even worry about it. Not even a big deal. No one’s even thinking about it, by the way. Like only you’re thinking about it.

OM: Yeah, no, after my first interview I did, I was thinking, oh my gosh, I say, after the person I was interviewing after you responded, I kept on saying, that’s sick, cool. Yeah. And Wow, just over and over again. You’re like, super sick.

LM: What also, when I’m mindful of it, that people have told me is the filler words, like umm, like, I think like is very popular now in our generation.

CC: Because even if you’re just—I say it all the time.

LM: It’s like, like, like, like.

CC: Well, that’s called word pollution. No offense. Yes. But it’s called word pollution, and it helps us get to our next thought, but it’s only because we’re not thinking or not in the moment. And If you focus on using or taking the word pollution out, it really does help you make your point or it helps you explain what you’re trying to say.

LM: Do you think silence is better?

CC: Absolutely. I will do an interview, ask a question, and then the person will be like, and I’ll just look at him. Well, it’ll be a stare down. I’m like, okay. And then, then ultimately, they will say something. You have to be so comfortable when you are doing this with silence because that’s when you get your best responses, your best sound bites, nothing’s wrong with it. And it’s not as bad as you think it is. The silence may seem longer, but it’s not. You know what I mean? You’re like, oh my God, three seconds of silence. If we sat here for three seconds, we would feel like it was 10 minutes.

LM: It would. It would. Yeah.

CC: But it’s not that bad. It gives it, especially if someone’s watching it, it gives it, it gives it to me texture. I don’t know if that’s the right word, but it makes it feel more powerful when people are silent, but looking at each other like if you said, Cari, do you pay all your taxes? I don’t know. And I just stood here silently. So I don’t know. I do pay all my taxes, by the way. But you would be like—

LM: IRS, if you’re listening.

CC: If you’re listening, don’t come after me. My phone, don’t do it. I probably did. Yeah, tell you, Don’t do it. You guys do that with your phone? I do this like, OK, tell my boyfriend I want to go on a trip. I want to do that trip. Let’s say I put a trip in his phone. Put a trip on his phone. Yeah. It works.

LM: It does, it does.

CC: Tell him to call me right now or that we’re breaking up. You know, It works. It works.

LM: Exactly.

CC: He might be out.

LM: So now I have a question. So as of right now, you’re on CNN. And you have a podcast show, Naked with Cari Champion. How has having your own podcast show been empowering for you at this stage in your career?

CC: Great question. Great question. It is interesting because podcasting versus being a broadcast journalist, being a presenter on television, two different things, you get to do this more and have fun and relax and it’s not as rigid and you’re not, there’s no pressure. You’re not like, Oh, the red, the red, the red dots, I see it. There’s the red dot.

LM: Right.

CC: I have to, I have to be away because it’s TV and people are watching. Podcasting is more intimate.

LM: Yeah.

CC: It is more, it is more of an opportunity to let the story breathe and get to know the person. So to me, that is why I like it. The problem with podcasting is there’s so many podcasts out there, you just gotta go hard in the paint and you have to, you have to figure out ways, which is what I’m doing right now. You have to figure out ways to compete with all the ones and make sure your algorithm is the one that they want and you move it to the top. These are all things that are behind the scenes that you shouldn’t have to worry about, but I do enjoy podcasting. It’s freedom and it makes people feel more relaxed when you interview them.

LM: And how do you stand out? Because like you said, there’s so much content.

CC: It’s hard. It’s hard. It’s hard. And I think you can stand out by the guest you book, but you also have to have, in today’s day and age, you need someone to consistently market and promote. That’s why you use your social media or whomever you have on the podcast. You have to repost them. It’s just hard to get traction because it’s such a crowded field. And if you’re lucky enough, you get a moment that goes viral and people start paying attention. You know, but I would just say in the meantime, the way that you stand out is just being consistent every week, every day, whatever the cadence is. Whenever you do it, it’s still, it’s really good work and people pay attention.

LM: So consistency is what you think is key.

CC: Yeah, yeah.

LM: Okay. And Olivia has some questions regarding really advice for students, Olivia, take it away.

OM: Thank you so much. So our medium landscape, it’s changing, especially with AI. So what core areas would you advise students in journalism to focus their efforts on and to set themselves apart from an AI influenced future?

CC: I think AI is going to be so important and also detrimental, sadly, but I think it’s going to be really hard to set yourself apart from AI and that that is to me what I fear for any form of media whether it be an actor or an actress or whether or not you are a student journalist and you think you have a good scoop in an interview. So what I would say in terms of what we do for a living and trying to do this, you have to really be diligent to check your resources and to make sure things are authentic. Meaning, I’ve had a few people send me story ideas and they’re like, oh my God, Cari, did you hear what so-and-so said about so-and-so? It wasn’t even true.

LM: Right.

CC: I could be driving right now in the car, this wrap this interview up, and then someone could say, did you hear what happened to Cari? She got into a fight in the parking lot. Here it is, you know? So the reality is, I’m gonna talk to myself and to us, because we are ADD.

OM: Yes.

CC: We have to focus. And that’s gonna be really hard for our skill set and we’re going to be duped a lot. This is why Congress, this is why lawmakers were trying to control it because there are going to be times, I’m going to give you a horrible what if scenario. What if someone were to break into all our big news stations right now and hack the system and air a trusted anchor, a news anchor saying, we have a pandemic, COVID is back, we’re on lockdown. And it was everywhere. And say for two hours, you know, no one could verify if that information was true or false. We would think it was true. And that’s what’s happening with AI right now. So I say to students that, you know, who really want to be in front of the camera behind the scenes or work in this media business, always verify and check your facts. AI is going to help maybe help you find your words, maybe write a lovely card to your mother for Mother’s Day.

LM: Right.

CC: Obviously, you get in trouble for your papers. If you’re doing it, I hear people are getting suspended for it all the time. But that means every there’s as we speak, there is software and apps being created to verify whether or not it’s true. The same with whether or not you’re writing your own paper, the same with whether or not I said whatever I said, that will be a part of our immediate future. But to me, the best advice is to really, really do your research. If this is the world that you want to live in, you know what I mean?

OM: Absolutely.

LM: That’s so true because we have like, are a lot of our professors with AI, and especially in journalism, they, they always really like emphasis, emphasize the fact to always check your sources to and not to, it’s, and not to like use AI and depend on it so much just for like, you know, different factual things, you know, like you said, I think that’s a big thing now and a lot of teachers.

CC: You don’t need to do anything. You can Google everything you need.

LM: That’s true. I think like academia and I think AI is at war.

CC: They have to be.

LM: I think that’s a big thing. But I think also, it’s interesting because a lot of people like our journalism professors here, from a communication and journalism background, they’re very worried for the future and I’ve gotten a sense from that. So it’s nice to hear your input regarding that.

CC: Well, when I was taking, when I was, I was a comms minor, but I was an American literature major and I remember taking comms, we talked about, and the big thing was like, don’t trust the internet. You know, that was the big thing then. And now it’s like, it’s gone even beyond trusting the internet. Now it’s like artificial intelligence is really what it is. It’s artificial intelligence and it’s going to take over jobs. The marketplace is going to be different when you guys want to go get jobs.

LM: Yeah.

CC: It’ll be it’s it’s and I think I mean we can go down so many dark, dark places as you will know of what it will be. But you now want to, my advice for students, you wanna be able to set yourself apart and you might be able to use, someone creative will use AI to their advantage. But to me, the only way to set yourself apart. And I said this earlier is consistency and excellence. And that is something that you have to work on all the time. There’s no shortcuts. I don’t believe in shortcuts. People will tell you there are no shortcuts.

OM: Yeah, yeah. That’s true. So do you think that continuing your education beyond a bachelor’s degree would help you differentiate yourself in a competitive landscape in this industry.

CC: Oh gosh, I hate to even say this to you guys because considering where we are, no, I don’t think you need to go to school anymore. I think school of life will give you the jobs you need. I don’t even know if you need a bachelor’s degree anymore to really do what I’m doing. It’s nice to say it and it may make you feel like you are just as smart as the folks in the room. I have friends who are, do what I do, and they went to Harvard and it does set them apart.

LM: Wow. Okay.

CC: I have two friends, my friend, my friend, Joy Reed. She’s a main anchor on MSNBC and my friend, Abby Phillips. She’s, she went to Harvard as well, or maybe she went to Yale and, and it sets them apart in a room. It adds to the criteria, but I am just as well known, just as successful, just as, and I have a B, I mean, I’m going to, even to UCLA, you know, and I’m like, okay, yeah, okay, I’m great. Sorry, guys. I was like, it does, It sets you apart, but not that much. It’s marginal. For this business, it’s marginal. If you want to be a doctor, obviously, if you have these applied professions, you want to be an attorney, you need a degree. But what we’re doing in the world of media, I think that an advanced degree in tech could help you if you wanted to focus on the IT aspect of media because streaming is really big now. So no one’s watching linear television and what I mean by that is that do you have cable? Does anybody have cable?

LM: No one has cable. Maybe my grandma.

CC: No one has cable. I have a best friend. She’s like, I’m just holding on to it to hold on to it. I was like, there’s no point. We’re all streaming. We are on YouTube TV. And so I believe there could be an advanced degree there that could help you because that’s the type of technology that no one’s watching, no one’s unless you’re watching the Super Bowl or the Grammy, you know, things like that. No one’s turning on the TV, not anymore. We don’t do that anymore.

OM: Yeah. So how essential is developing an on-air persona? How does that make you memorable to an employer?

CC: Our business is subjective, it’s not like sports. Like if I do well, and I keep saying like, If I do well in a sport, I’m going to be paid accordingly and I’m going to get brand deals and I’m going to succeed. In our business, it’s very subjective. So someone could like the way you look. Someone can really just genuinely like the way you look. Someone could like the way you talk. I think what separates you and allows you to succeed or stand out to an employer when you’re in front of them is a skill set that no one else possesses. I feel like my skill set that helps me is that I like to look at the person. I like to talk to people. I’m very authentic. What I say is not made up. It just comes from what I feel. And all my bosses in the past have said, you feel very authentic. I feel like I can trust you. And when you talk, you transcend. You go beyond just this first layer of conversation. So that would be my skill set. It doesn’t hurt that you guys are beautiful. It doesn’t—it doesn’t hurt the cause. I mean, look, this is TV, right? But I do believe if you have a skill set that your colleagues don’t have, speaking another language, if you can get people to talk to you, if you can get really good interviews, big interviews. Those things set you apart.

LM: Like this one right now?

CC: Yeah, those things set you apart. Those things set you apart. You’re like, wow, you did that already. You put this together already. Someone’s gonna be impressed by that. Like I would tell people, I interviewed Hillary Clinton when I was, you know, here at UCLA, like my senior year and I was going looking for jobs. I was going to interview Hillary Clinton and they’re impressed.

LM: Now it’s like I interviewed Cari Champion.

CC: There you go. That’s cool. Even in a full circle moment, that’s so funny. This is, I’m actually doing a dinner tomorrow night and her husband will be there, President Clinton.

LM: Really? Wow!

CC: President Clinton. And it’s so funny that we’re having this conversation.

LM: Yes.

CC: But I just, I just say to you all, you know, this is your life, you know, you’ll five years from now, 10 years from now, you’ll be having conversations with heads of states and people of note and luminaries. And it will be, you’re like, I remember that time I bumped into you and it just happens it’s full circle it’s always a good moment that’s how you know you’re on the right path.

LM: Absolutely.

OM: Absolutely. 100%.

Bruin to Bruin is brought to you by the Daily Bruin Podcasts.

LM: You can listen to this show and all other Daily Bruin podcasts on Spotify, SoundCloud, and Apple Podcasts.

OM: The audio and transcript are available at DailyBruin.com. This is Lauren and Olivia Miller. Thank you for listening.