BOWIE, Md. – Donell Pettus had dreams of being a broadcast journalist since he was in elementary school, and the senior communications major got a chance to pursue his passion after spending the summer in Los Angeles working an internship with TMZ Sports.
The internship was the culmination of years as a sports fan and a passion for sports commentary, which was sparked during a 2010 football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins.
“Seeing Michael Vick throw an 88-yd touchdown pass to Desean Jackson on the first play, I was like ‘Wow,’” said Pettus, who ranks football as his favorite sport to watch. “It just brought the excitement to my family. Seeing the sport announcers getting passionate and debate and analyze the game, I was like ‘This is what I want to do.’ As a seven-year-old, I knew what my career was going to be.”
After that pivotal moment, Pettus did everything he could to position himself for a career in the broadcast booth. He joined the journalism clubs in middle and high school while studying some of the working styles of the top broadcasters in the industry, such as Stephen A. Smith, Ernie Johnson, Rob Parker and Skip Bayless.
During his summer with TMZ Sports, Pettus not only learned how to sharpen his research and reporting skills while operating in a busy newsroom, but he also learned some of the other operational aspects that are involved in producing a television news program.
“I learned how to work the control room on the production side,” said Pettus. “Learning the control room buttons and how they connect with the editors was fun. Seeing the graphics and how they use the green screen was very interesting. I was able to see how they do breaks heading into commercials. It was wonderful.”
Pettus also had the opportunity to put his problem solving and entrepreneurial mindset to use through an intern project with TMZ Sports where he was challenged to come up with new ways for the outlet to connect with Gen Z viewers. Pettus used his creativity to submit a range of ideas, which included suggestions on how TMZ Sports could better leverage social media as well as a thought towards branching out into sports drinks.
“Nowadays, Gen Z drinks a lot of sports drinks and energy drinks,” said Pettus. “Partnering with a Monster energy drink would be great. They could do pop-up shops in stadiums, like SoFi Stadium or the Crypto Arena.”
Pettus is looking forward to enjoying his senior year at Bowie State while he decides on looking for that first job after graduation or going to graduate school. Whatever he decides, Pettus will look to hit with all his energy and passion.
