Sports have been an enduring part of life for Eric Lansing.
He started to appreciate sports at age 9 or 10, making his own football jerseys with his friends and trading baseball and football cards. He played a little baseball, mostly second base, in high school at George Washington but wasn’t a star.
“That kind of pushed me to the TV side, to the newspaper side of it,” said the 2008 Metropolitan State University of Denver journalism grad. “Instead of trying to excel in the (sports) field, I decided I would stick with sports, and excel behind the recorder or the pen and paper.”
Lansing is the media producer for the MSU Denver’s Athletics Department and produces and hosts “Roadrunner Review,” a monthly 30-minute show he created that airs on Altitude and Comcast and features interviews, sports highlights, commentary and a top plays segment. This month’s show looks back at the past year’s greatest Roadrunner sports moments and features student anchors.
Lansing played several positions in the Office of Student Media as a way to build a portfolio and garner multimedia experience. He was sports editor for The Metropolitan, sports director for the MetReport and host of the KMet radio sports show. In his senior year, Lansing was recruited by the assistant athletic director for media relations and marketing at the time, Ron Christian, to produce commercials for the department.
Lansing graduated with a degree in news editorial journalism and a minor in speech communications. After interning for a year at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, he was hired for a stimulus-funded job in the Athletics Department in October 2009.
Last summer, the money for Lansing’s position as webcast technical director ran out. But he didn’t have to look far for another job. Under his direction, the department’s multimedia offerings had expanded and needed a permanent leader, so Lansing was hired full-time to oversee the production of live sports broadcasts, videos for the website, a radio show and the “Roadrunner Review.”
Taking Roadrunner sports communications to the next level, says Lansing, was “tiresome, but exciting, because it was my baby.”
With newspapers shedding jobs and social media on the rise, Lansing encourages journalism students to diversify. Backpack journalism (characterized by reporters who carry a bag full of gear for digital and visual storytelling) is a must, he says. ”You can’t just be about writing; you can’t just be about shooting. It’s so huge for people to know how to do everything.”
Lansing says that the “Roadrunner Review” provides a great opportunity for students to learn how to produce a TV show. He’s grateful to Athletic Director Joan McDermott for believing in him and others who “helped push this program off the floor.”
McDermott says the show is incredible publicity for both the department and the University and she has been impressed with Lansing’s work since he was a student. “It’s night and day from when he wasn’t with us and now,” says McDermott. “His role is extremely important to our department. He really is a professional. “
Lansing describes MSU Denver as a nurturing environment – and it’s one he’s helping to cultivate.
“It’s a pretty great family over here,” Lansing says. “The old man, that’s what they call me around here.”
Catch “Roadrunner Review”
Altitude (Comcast Ch.25):
July 25 at 4 p.m.
July 27 at 7:30 a.m.
Aug. 9 at 4 p.m.
Comcast Entertainment Television (Comcast Ch. 5):
July 25 at 6:30 p.m.
July 26 at 3:30 p.m.
July 27 at 3:30 and 4:30 p.m.
Additional times can be found at http://www.altitude.tv/ and Comcast CET
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