Student Spotlight: The Anthony Ferrella Show

By Julie Pawlikowski, second year graduate student in the Media Management program

Duquesne Media Now’s Student Spotlight is Anthony Ferrella III. Duquesne Media Now sat down with the Pittsburgh native and junior Sports Marketing major, Sports Information and Media minor to discuss his new radio show, the ‘Anthony Ferrella Show.’

Duquesne Media Now: You work for the Pittsburgh Pirates as a Batboy and Clubhouse attendant and your major and minor are in the sports media field. Is it safe to assume sports will be a part of your future career?

Anthony Ferrella: I am interested in literally all things sports. I heavily follow all of the sports teams here in town and I would love to stay in baseball, working as a high-ranking executive in an organization and running a team. Another career goal is to work at ESPN or any other elite sports broadcasting company where I could cover sports, especially the Southeastern Conference (SEC) on the SEC Network at ESPN.

DSM: How did you start the ‘Anthony Ferrella Show?’

AF: I received help and advice from Visiting Assistant Professor of Multiplatform Journalism, Mr. Robert Healy III. Professor Healy put me in contact with the right people at the radio station, gave me valuable improvement advice, continuously checked up on me and boom…now I have my own weekly show. I designed a logo that was personal to the show, found people to do the voice overs and have been promoting the show on social media.

DSM: It sounds like you’ve put a substantial amount of time, energy and passion into the show. How did you get interested in radio?

AF: If you want to work in the sports media field, you have to start somewhere and radio was the perfect fit for me. One person who has motivated me is Laura Rutledge of ESPN, whose career has really taken off in the sports media industry. I am trying to follow a similar path that she did, starting in radio then transitioning to TV. She went to the University of Florida where she did similar things to what I’m doing on their radio station. Rutledge has been a huge help to me.

DSM: What’s the focus of the ‘Anthony Ferrella Show?’

AF: The ‘Anthony Ferrella Show’ is centered on college football, basketball and baseball in the SEC. We also get into local college sports such as the Duquesne University basketball programs.

DSM: So sports enthusiasts should definitely tune into the show. What else can listeners look forward to?

AF: Listeners can expect a variety of things. First, listeners have the ability to basically determine the direction of the show by tweeting us @AF_WDSR. We’ll steer the conversations based on those tweets. We do this to give the power back to the people so that more than anything I am just moderating the back and forth that occurs. Second, listeners can look forward to coverage of the SEC without bias towards any particular team. They get the facts as well as insights from someone without a biased opinion. But the biggest things listeners can expect is huge guest appearances from notable personalities that extensively cover the conference at the professional level. Some of these guests include the ‘King of the South,’ Paul Finebaum, Laura Rutledge and we often catch up with Adam Lindner of the Duquesne Duke who covers Duquesne Basketball for the paper.

DSM: Those are some impressive things for your listeners to get excited for. So, how can they catch the show?

AF: They just have to tune in every Thursday at 7 p.m. EST or 6 p.m. CST to this link. And if you miss a LIVE show, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. You can catch the show on SoundCloud and Apple Podcasts. We’re looking to transition into a TV broadcast and with graphic creation, studio updates and more, it will take some time but keep on the lookout for future updates. And I’d like to give a big shout out to the Duquesne Media department and Professor Healy for all your help and collaborations in creating the ‘Anthony Ferrella Show.’

If you’re a Duquesne Media student who is doing cool and interesting things, let us know! You could be our next Student Spotlight!