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This feature is presented to you by the University of Nebraska — Lincoln Master of Arts in Business with a Specialization in Intercollegiate Athletics Administration
Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson has been in the journalism world since he was 12 years old. He compares himself to a young veteran in the NBA because while he’s been at it for a while, he is just hitting his prime.
His journalism career started when he was a child. Not only did he enjoy always talking and participating in public speaking arenas, he loved watching Ed Bradley on 60 Minutes.
“My focus in sports journalism wasn’t there at that point. I was simply asking questions and interviewing people,” he said. “I liked Ed Bradley’s question of ‘Why?’ especially how he said it. I found out he was a child prodigy just like I was.”
As a child, his late uncle, Kevin McGill and grandmother Emogene McGill owned a sneaker store in Harlem called The Athlete’s Foot. The store opened in 1979 and was the only black-owned sneaker store in the state of New York.
Numerous athletes shopped at his family’s stores on Harlem’s historic 125th Street. It was more than a place to shop, it was a popular hangout spot according to Robinson.
“When the Wayans Brothers used to live in the projects down the street from my family’s store, they used to come in and shop while they were on their way up.”
He has been around celebrities his entire life.
There are pictures of Hakeem Olajuwon and Dominique Wilkins holding him as a baby and even Mike Tyson used to stop by the store as he was growing up.
While operating a basketball league in NYC called City Wide, his late uncle, William “Billy” Rawls, introduced him to the game of basketball.
“Anybody that came from New York City and played basketball knew my uncle — Stephon Marbury, Mark Jackson, Kenny ‘The Jet’ Smith, Bernard King, etc. Being exposed to sports at that capacity at an early age peaked my interest.”
His step-father, a Chicago-native made Robinson aware of a certain Hall of Famer that played for the Chicago Bulls named Michael Jordan. Robinson watched as Jordan, Pippen, Grant and head coach Phil Jackson won their first championship in 1991. He was hooked. Basketball became his entry point into the world of journalism.
His first big break came at 12 years old co-hosting Nets Slammin Planet with retired NBA player, Albert King and radio personalities Lynn Wilson and Evan Roberts.
After finishing school at Eastern University in 2008, he took a semester off before enrolling in graduate school at Hofstra University.
During his semester off, he worked various different jobs. From stock clerk at Victoria’s Secret, and housekeeper at Best Western to salesman for a company called Klick Kitchen, he credits these roles to making him a better journalist.
“Having to cold call all day translated into journalism because you have to make people like you within the first five seconds of talking to you.”
After the semester off, he earned his master’s degree in sports and entertainment journalism from Hofstra. While there, he took a feature writing class. The first thing the professor said was, “It’s not going to be about organizations. It’s going to be about brand recognition and your sources.” He couldn’t have been more right.
Afterward graduating, Robinson freelanced for SLAM magazine, BrooklynFans.com, EBONY Magazine, MaxPreps, The Brooklyn Courier, East Orange (NJ) Record and many other magazines and websites.
Freelancing led to becoming a staff writer at The Source Magazine. During that time, he began to earn more television time and became a sports analyst for a television network called Arise TV.
“The world became even more familiar with me when I was at a press conference with Adam Silver when I asked him about the NBA banning the Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling. People thought I was Kenan Thompson from Saturday Night Live.”
After leaving The Source Magazine, he started hosting Brown and Scoop, a daily sports and entertainment podcast for CBS Radio.
“I broke a lot of stories like when Samaki Walker told us about the time Kobe Bryant punched him in the face over $100 which in turn TMZ ran,” he said. “Former NBA player Roshown McLeod told me that when Michael Jordan dropped 48 points on Jerry Stackhouse, he sang Anita Baker’s Giving You the Best that I Got while he was torching him. I enjoy telling people stories they want to hear.”
After recording over 300 episodes of the podcast, he left CBS Radio and landed a position with RESPECT magazine as a managing editor and columnist.
“If you’re in this profession just to be seen, this isn’t the profession for you. You have to do the dirty work.”
Although he left CBS, he still records his own podcast called Scoop B Radio.
Scoop B is dedicated to delivering content covering sports, urban lifestyle and entertainment and has had big names from boxer Adrien Broner, ESPN analyst Jalen Rose, retired NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens and musician Wyclef Jean to NBA Hall of Famers Allen Iverson and Charles Barkley on.
His favorite aspect of his job is interviewing people that as a child he admired. One of the most memorable interviews he’s done was with David Hasselhoff.
“I grew up watching Knight Rider. I literally thought I was Michael Knight. I had the opportunity to talk to Hasselhoff about life and what it was like being in a car with KITT. I found out William Daniels who was the voice of KITT wasn’t even on the set of Knight Rider and recorded the lines separately. It was almost like finding out Santa Claus wasn’t real.”
Robinson believes journalism will evolve to where the industry is focused less about publications and more about brands and your following. Regardless of the changes, consistency will remain the most important trait a writer can have.
“You don’t want to go to a restaurant where the food is good one time and terrible the next,” added Robinson. “There’s a lot of idiots with Emmy’s.”
Robinson made headlines after an interview he conducted with the rapper Too $hort. His song, Blow the Whistle was remade by Jay-Z back in 2008 and Drake used part of the song in his song For Free.
He posted the interview on March 25 and the blog blew up the next day. UPROXX, New York Daily News, BET.com, Complex, The Source Magazine and a myriad of other platforms featured it. They took the line from the interview where Too $hort said Jay-Z remade the song to attempt to get LeBron James to come to the Brooklyn Nets back when he was eligible to be a free agent in 2010.
“It’s now 2017. People want to know the dirt,” he said. “Something as innocent as that is cool for the sports fan and great for me because I got clicks galore.”
One topic that is relatively low on the media radar that Robinson believes will blow up soon is team safety.
“Players don’t necessarily realize they’re an easy target. As a young professional athlete walking around with lots of money on you, guys are vulnerable.”
As a journalist with over seven years of experience, he had a few bits of advice to share for those just starting in the profession.
“Never take no from somebody who isn’t qualified to tell you yes. You’re only as good as your last story.”
When it comes to a story, Robinson plans months ahead of time for what stories he wants to write about because he’s in this business for the long haul.
“If you’re in this profession just to be seen, this isn’t the profession for you. You have to do the dirty work.”
I want to thank Brandon for taking time in between interviewing rappers and writing about basketball to answer these questions about his journey and journalism.
You can follow Brandon on Twitter and Instagram, subscribe to Scoop B Radio on itunes, TuneIn and Stitcher Apps. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
Also visit ScoopB.com and ScoopBRadio.com
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