Jackie Macmullen is a "Boston Globe" sports columnist, ESPN panelist, mother of two children and a UNH alumna.
Tuesday of this week, Jackie Macmullen stood in the very room where she took Newswriting from former professor Donald Murray and spoke to a class of approximately 30 students about her job and how she got there.
"You guys have it easy," she said, indicating the number of modern computers now in the Donald M. Murray Journalism Lab. "We had four typewriters for 30 students."
Macmullen is currently a sports columnist for "The Boston Globe," as well as an off and on panelist for the ESPN show "Around the Horn."
The distinguished columnist told the students that her journey as a writer had begun at UNH, where she learned what made her style unique from others.
During her junior year of college, Macmullen completed her journalism internship at the "Gloucester Times," one of the only family owned and run newspapers left in the Unites States today.
By the time she graduated, Macmullen had numerous clips from the "Gloucester Times," and TNH, but she felt she needed more before applying for a job.
With encouragement from current professor Andrew Merton, Macmullen deferred her graduation until the following spring in order to apply for a "Boston Globe" summer internship unavailable to seniors. Macmullen applied and was hired for a news internship, rather than her preference, sports.
It was at "The Globe" that Macmullen began her career as a sports columnist, a job that would require a lot of her.
"In the beginning you have to sacrifice," Macmullen said. "I traveled 220 out of all 365 days of the year."
In addition to her traveling, Macmullen also had to respond to over 300 love/hate e-mails a day and grow a thick skin while writing about sometimes unpopular topics.
In 1996 Macmullen made the decision to leave "The Globe" to work for "Sports Illustrated" as an NBA writer.
After four years at "Sports Illustrated," Macmullen chose to take two years off and spend time with her two young children. And in 2002, she went back to "The Globe" with the reins in her hand.
"I would only have to travel if the local teams went to the playoffs," said Macmullen when describing the deal that she made with her boss at "The Globe."
This was the year that the Patriots and the Red Sox would both begin having great seasons, and of course, make it to the play-offs.
Between 2002 and now, this accomplished writer has made even more of a mark in the sports writing industry, including breaking through the tough "woman in a locker room" persona and gaining incredible respect from many sports stars.
The article published in "The Globe" following the Sox win in the World Series was written by Macmullen. This was a story that allowed 27 minutes for running down to the locker room for quotes, in addition to the actual writing of the story.
During her two-hour talk, it wasn't difficult to see that many of the male members of the class were dying to ask Macmullen about her experiences with sports stars such as Michael Jordan and Nomar Garciaparra.
Along with their personalities and vices, Macmullen described to her audience the impact her stories had on players, some of which she truly cared for.
One of the biggest stars that Macmullen has been able to get to know personally is Larry Bird, the topic and co-author of one of her biographical books, "Bird Watching," a book that she found very challenging as she had to write it in Bird's distinctive voice.
While most of the audience was content with simply hearing about her meetings with sports stars and the sheer excitement of her job, Macmullen gave her audience advice and encouragement on pursuing their job as news writers.
"You have to find a way to make yourself stand out from the other 70 applications on your future employer's desk," said Macmullen as she described the importance in the creative lead and story, the significance of constructing your own individual niche in the writing industry, knowing the right people and, of course, luck.
"The biggest mistake we make as a writer is underestimating how powerful what we write about is," Macmullen said. "We could change someone's entire opinion in one sentence."
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