By: Nicholas Renard
Frank Deford, eminent sports journalist and author, received the national William Allen White Foundation’s 2013 citation Feb. 8 in the Kansas Union, becoming the first sportswriter to receive the award.
“Deford has been, over these years, a premiere persona of excellence in American sports writing,” said Rich Clarkson, distinguished photographer and KU Board of Trustees member, during Deford’s introduction.
Beginning his career as a writer for Sports Illustrated, Deford proved his versatility, dabbling in both print and broadcast for more than 50 years. In addition to 18 published books, he has commentated for CNN and is a weekly guest correspondent on NPR’s Morning Edition.
He also served as editor-in-chief of the first daily U.S. sports newspaper, The National, which closed after 18 months.
The countless awards and accolades peppering Deford’s career include both a Peabody and a Christopher. He was awarded the National Magazine Award 1999 and voted Magazine Writer of the Year twice by the Washington Journalism Review.
He has also received an Emmy for work during the Seoul Olympics and numerous other degrees for journalistic excellence.
Deford mingled with KU students and staff during the day, meeting for hotdogs in the J-School’s Clarkson Gallery and discussing celebrity journalism with one class.
During his acceptance speech, Deford often cited his excitement in being the first sportswriter to receive the citation, a branch of journalism he said is viewed differently than others and perhaps not given the respect it deserves.
“I am so gratified to have received this extraordinary distinction,” Deford said. “I’m sincere in saying I feel that this honor for me does recognize, if obliquely, sports journalism, which I believe sometimes is too often overlooked.”
He went on to discuss contemporary sports writing’s heavy use of statistics, adding that excessive use of numbers in a story becomes overwhelming.
Deford also described the internet’s influence on journalism, and said it’s harder now to educate ourselves even with so much information readily available.
“Ironically, the broadband has made us narrower, the web has made us more direct,” he said.
The Kansas View 