The Spoken Word of Television Sports Broadcaster Vai Sikahema
Open Access
- Author:
- Shirley , Gabrielle Morgan
- Area of Honors:
- Journalism
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Arts
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- James Ford Risley, Thesis Supervisor
James Ford Risley, Thesis Honors Advisor
Marie Hardin, Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- journalism
sports
sports broadcasting
television
anchoring
football
NBC10 - Abstract:
- The world of sports broadcasting is being transformed by an interesting trend. This trend, which allows professional athletes to retire from the field of play and to then reestablish themselves in the athletic world by becoming broadcast journalists, is already prevalent within the industry and it is only growing in popularity. Vai Sikahema, a former athlete and a current broadcaster, has experienced the trend. He was a player in the National Football League for eight seasons and he has been a sports anchor at NBC 10 in Philadelphia for nearly twenty years. He has lived two occupations separately and simultaneously and he feels that he has benefitted from the combination of the two professions. The following thesis revisits the life of Vai Sikahema. It highlights the personal events that succeeded in shaping his professional careers and it examines his thoughts and his opinions regarding the choices that he has made and the actions that he has taken as an athlete and as a broadcaster. The information presented in this thesis is based on a personal interview with Sikahema that occurred on January 3, 2012 at the NBC 10 Philadelphia station. It is further supported by additional research surrounding the history of professional sports and the emergence of professional athletes as professional broadcasters.