Joel Anderson on football, Twitter and opinions

Joel Anderson doesn’t think USC Football is a national championship contender. He doesn’t think Los Angeles is the “progressive paradise” it could be. And he doesn’t want to hear what 19-year-olds have to say. Anderson has a lot of opinions, and after 20 years of being a journalist, he says he’s earned that right.

Anderson, a former ESPN analyst and current host of “Hang Up and Listen,” a sports podcast at Slate Magazine, is the current resident journalist in-house at Annenberg. In an interview on September 14, he said, while he doesn’t see a national championship for USC this year, “[The Trojans] probably should, or could, win the Pac-12.”

Anderson started his football journey at Texas Christian University where he played as a running back, backing up Pro Football Hall-of-Famer LaDainian Tomlinson. He then discovered his passion for covering football off the field and graduated with a degree in news editorial journalism. He became a senior writer at ESPN, covering college football and basketball. With that experience, he said USC couldn’t have gotten a better “upgrade” than to join the Big 10 with head coach Lincoln Riley at the helm.

“He’s such a forward-thinking coach,” Anderson said. “He’s not beholden to any old traditions… and that’s the sign to me of a good coach.”

But that’s not all he has covered. Anderson has tackled news, politics and crime throughout his career, working for organizations such as Buzzfeed News and the Tampa Bay Times. His projects span from a podcast dissecting Biggie versus Tupac to a firsthand account of the Ferguson protests.

Now, as staff writer at Slate Magazine, Anderson includes his personal opinions alongside his sports podcast and other columns via his Twitter.

On his self-described “opinionated” tweets, Anderson said, “I have a job that allows me the ability to editorialize or share my opinion in a way that I did not have even 10, 12 years ago when I was reporting on local government affairs in Georgia. … I didn’t tweet like that when I had that job, but I have a different job now.”

Anderson warned young reporters against sharing opinions too early, saying it takes time for people to take you seriously.

“There’s not a lot of 19-year-olds whose opinions I want to hear… For everybody’s sake, it’s best to wait,” Anderson said. “I don’t think anybody needed to hear my opinions when I was 20 years old. And I’m glad nobody heard them, in retrospect. I wasn’t ready for primetime. I’m not experienced enough. I had not done enough.”

Throughout his career, one constant has always been his spirit for storytelling.

Professor Sandy Tolan, who invited Anderson to Annenberg, said that Anderson has retained his soul through his transition through styles. “There aren’t a lot of people like Joel out there that are this connected to stories and journalism with a lot of integrity,” Tolan said.

While walking around campus before speaking with Annenberg Media, Anderson shared one more opinion: