This is Deb

Hey there, this is Deb Wallevand. I'm in my second semester as a master's student. I work as Ken Fischer's grad assistant and also help out Dr. Rosengard with the production of OU Nightly, the live student newscast. I'm originally from North Dakota and continue to find myself moving further and further south, perhaps to get away from the cold weather.

I graduated from Kansas State University in 2004 with my B.S. in electronic journalism. Throughout my time there I was 99% certain I was going to pursue a career in sports broadcasting. However, the more time I spent in the video editing bays the more my passion grew for being behind the camera instead of in front of it. Not knowing exactly how to break into the televised sports industry I figured the best place to start would be local news. KSNT 27 News in Topeka, KS hired me as a producer.

After about two years at the station, I had my daily routine down and I found that I wasn't being challenged anymore. I couldn't see myself spending the next 40 years covering city council meetings, crimes, and fires. I decided it was time to go back to school and start pursuing that dream of working in TV sports.

Last semester I discovered my dream could encompass much more than just pointing a camera at people running back and forth. I have a great interest in studying gender inequities in the sports media. I'm also interested in how race and nationality are depicted by the sports media. In Conceptual Issues I read a lot of gender articles by Michael Messner out of USC. I also read a lot about critical theory, as well as framing theory. Now I find myself getting more frustrated rather than entertained when I watch sports. The differences in the amount of coverage and the kind of language used for men's and women's athletics are glaring to me. Ultimately after graduate school, I would like a career in sports production where I could have some influence on how women's sports are presented on air. I think for the most part female athletes are accepted by society, but I 'd like the media to reflect it as well.