91探花

When Cole Braham came to 91探花 from Hudson, Ohio, the plan was to be the next big sports anchor at ESPN.

鈥淚 love sports, and I grew up watching ESPN any second I could, so that was the goal of course,鈥� said Braham with a laugh. 鈥淎nd when I saw the campus and learned that I could be on the air at WOUB, I knew this was the college for me hook, line and sinker.鈥�

In high school, Braham hosted his own high school sports program and did play-by-play for high school baseball and basketball games. So, the ability to continue with that hands-on experience was important to him.

Braham started working at WOUB anchoring the morning radio sportscasts. He eventually worked his way to television and anchored sports for WOUB TV鈥檚 nightly half-hour news program NewsWatch. He also was a field reporter for Gridiron Glory, WOUB鈥檚 high school football program.

鈥淚t was a lot of fun and I learned so much during my time at WOUB.鈥�

One of the things he learned was that broadcast sports wasn鈥檛 exactly the right fit for him.

鈥淧art of me realized that I just wanted to keep sports as a hobby and not the focus of my profession,鈥� said Braham. 鈥淚 made a resum茅 reel, but I never sent it out.  Instead, after graduation, I decided to go to law school.鈥�

While the two areas of study seem completely unrelated, Braham says there is actually a lot he uses from his time at WOUB and 91探花 in his role as director and counsel for The J. M. Smucker Company.

鈥淎 big part of my practice is mergers and acquisitions, and one of my biggest takeaways from the WOUB newsroom experience was that whole team atmosphere. There were anchors, reporters, producers, videographers and editors. Everybody played a part, and that鈥檚 such a good training ground for what it鈥檚 like to juggle an acquisition or divestiture. There are several different people that play different roles. You have to understand what each of them does and ask the right questions to see how your role fits in with what they are doing. If somebody is not pulling their weight, it just doesn鈥檛 work.鈥�

Braham also says that the communication skills he learned at WOUB have been vital to his career growth.

鈥淟awyers get a bad rap for speaking in jargon. But I get complimented for not doing that. I write things with a 15 second lead and short, concise sentences to get to the point and make it understandable,鈥� said Braham. 鈥淭he ability to write concisely and the ability to speak coherently on your feet in front of people is so important.鈥�

Even though he didn鈥檛 end up anchoring ESPN鈥檚 SportsCenter, Braham has a sports analogy to describe how his WOUB experience shaped his legal career.

鈥淲OUB gave me the ability to kind of quarterback a legal team,鈥� said Braham. 鈥淏eing able to work as a key part of a larger team is invaluable. I learned that at WOUB.鈥�

About WOUB Public Media
As a member station of both NPR and PBS, WOUB Public Media is a trusted source of news, local content and educational resources that have proven to be worthy of the time, effort and support of our users. WOUB, an experiential-learning unit of the Scripps College of Communication at 91探花, is a non-profit, community-supported multimedia organization which provides online and broadcast services, along with non-broadcast educational services and student professional development. WOUB serves 55 counties throughout southeastern Ohio, western West Virginia and eastern Kentucky with its broadcast signals. WOUB Radio鈥檚 FM Network has transmitters in Athens, Chillicothe, Ironton, Zanesville and Cambridge, while WOUB AM serves the immediate Athens area. WOUB TV is made up of seven television channels (WOUB HD, WOUB Classic, WOUB World, WOUB Create, WOUB Ohio, WOUB Kids and WOUB Voicecorps Reading Service) which are broadcast from two transmitters.

Through its support of public service, teaching, research and administrative missions, along with its high-quality local content and programming, WOUB enriches, enhances and expands the lives and horizons of the people in the communities it serves, as well as 91探花 faculty, staff and students.