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Staff profile: Meet The Columbus Dispatch's Brian Hedger, Blue Jackets beat reporter
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- Staff profile: Meet The Columbus Dispatch's Brian Hedger, Blue Jackets beat reporter
(Editor's Note: This article is part of a weekly feature on Columbus Dispatch journalists.)
Brian Hedger covers the Blue Jackets beat for The Columbus Dispatch , where he's worked for six years in that role.
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Before that, he worked one season as the Blue Jackets "insider" for the team's web site — which was preceded by an eight-year stint in the Chicago area as a correspondent for NHL.com, the National Hockey League's site.
Brian's career also includes sports writing stints at four mid-sized newspapers based in Michigan and Indiana, and he worked as a freelance correspondent for multiple Chicago publications, including the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Daily Herald, Daily Southtown and Northwest Herald.
Brian's work has been published in The Hockey News magazine, and he even had a brief foray into medical writing, reporting about physician licensure and discipline at American Medical News, a trade publication formerly produced by the American Medical Association.
Below, he answers some questions about his role at The Dispatch:
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What's the biggest challenge I face as a journalist?
The spreading perception that what I and others in "mainstream media" do is lie or spread rumors rather than thoroughly report facts through established source relationships and other contacts within the industry of professional hockey. That's not how this job works. That's not how any part of this career works.
Being first is always good, but being sure of your information is the gold standard, and that can never change.
Why I became a journalist
It's something I stumbled upon while writing for my high school's newspaper but didn't take seriously until the end of my second year in college as a civil engineering major. Trust me, every time you drive over a safely constructed bridge or highway, you should be grateful that I gave up the goal of building roads and overpasses for building source relationships as a reporter.
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Journalism, with a sports lean, is the perfect fit for my career skills. Like many in this industry, my childhood dream of making it to the professional ranks as an athlete took a detour onto a career path that I knew about only from growing up an avid reader of the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press.
After realizing I'd never make it as a switch-hitting second baseman, the path to the big leagues became clear.
I could get there through sports journalism and help sports fans learn more about their favorite athletes and their careers. It's something I've never taken for granted, from cutting my teeth at youth and high school levels to working my way up through covering colleges, minor league teams and, eventually, the "bigs."
What I like best about my job
Sports journalists aren't friends with the athletes and coaches we cover. At least, we're not supposed to be. That doesn't mean, however, there isn't mutual respect and friendly banter with the people we write about on a regular basis. One of the bright parts of this gig, which I love, is simply getting to know professional athletes on a basic human level.
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We talk to them about their performance, sure, but we also learn their likes, dislikes, hobbies, families, personalities and life stories. Much of being a sports fan now is rooted in "advanced math" and predictive numbers, which I fear will reduce these humans who have elite skill to nothing more than salaries compared to statistics.
That's a sad thought.
The human side of sports is what drives me, chronicling plots and storylines of athletes, coaches and teams as they strive to carve out their careers through ups and downs, all while seeking victory. I've spent the bulk of my adult life telling their stories and I'm grateful for each one.
A story I worked on that's had a lasting impact on me
During a career that has spanned 30 years, if you count my collegiate days with The State News student newspaper in East Lansing, Michigan, there've been quite a few.
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None, however, impacted me on a personal level quite like the recent deaths of former Blue Jackets players Johnny Gaudreau and Matiss Kivlenieks . Simply put, I wasn't emotionally prepared to cover the shocking death of a young, vibrant professional athlete, let alone two in a span of three years from the same team .
That's without mentioning Matthew Gaudreau, Johnny's younger brother, who was also killed in the same tragedy this past summer as they biked near their hometown in South Jersey. Writing about the death of somebody you've interviewed and interacted with hits you harder than expected, from reporting the initial facts of what happened to covering tear-filled vigils and funerals.
The Hedgers also placed hockey sticks outside our home. As for how it's affected me?
Well, I've always been overly cautious around fireworks, but now I think about Matiss every time my son or daughter goes to a gathering where I know they'll be around fireworks. It makes those hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
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Likewise, covering the Gaudreau brothers' funeral has prompted me to make changes in my life. I no longer consume alcohol, even a sip, if I'm driving anywhere. It's not worth it.
I've also changed as a driver. It's not a race. There's no victory milk, no giant bottle of champagne and no prize money at the end of my commute.
There's just my destination, whether it's Nationwide Arena, The Dispatch or home to be with my family. I try to drive with more patience now, and hopefully more drivers will do the same.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Staff profile: Meet The Columbus Dispatch's Brian Hedger
