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Joe Gisondi

Professor of Journalism

Office: 2546 - Buzzard Hall
Phone: 217-581-6003
Email: jjgisondi@eiu.edu
http://www.joegisondi.com

Joe Gisondi's Vita

I worked at several newspapers across Florida for more than 20 years, mostly in sports – Orlando Sentinel, Florida Today, Clearwater Sun, Fort Myers News-Press. Before coming to Eastern in 2002, I taught for six years at Valencia Community College where the student newspaper earned three national Pacemaker Awards, four regional awards, and several state awards. At Eastern, I advised the Daily Eastern News from 2004-08 during which it also earned several national Pacemaker Award nominations for its print and online editions, winning the online category once. Currently, I primarily teach reporting courses and am working on several longer writing projects. Check out my sports journalism book, Field Guide To Covering Sports and my professional website at joegisondi.com.

Current Syllabi

Frequently Taught Courses

Advanced Reporting
Sports and the Media
Sports Writing
Computer-Assisted Reporting

Education

Master of Fine Arts, Creative Non-Fiction, Spalding University
Master of Arts, Literature, University of Central Florida
Bachelor of Arts, English, University of South Florida

Professional Organizations

Investigative Reporters and Editors – member
Illinois College Press Association – former president and vice president
College Media Advisers – former board member and chair of several committees
Illinois Community College Journalism Association – Executive Director
Illinois Press Foundation/Dow Jones Newspaper Fund summer journalism workshop – director

Speakers Bureau

For more information, please visit the Speakers Bureau Webpage.

Publications

The Field Guide to Covering Sports (Congressional Quarterly Press)

Developed interactive webinar for the Poynter Institute's News University entitled “Introduction to Sports Reporting.”

Wrote chapter published in The Tiger Woods Phenomenon: Essays on the Cultural Impact of Golf's Infallible Superman

Wrote essay entitled "Title IX Needed Now More Than Ever," published in The Contemporary Reader, 11th edition, by Pearson.

Conference Presentations

Have presented more than 50 sessions at the following national, state or regional conferences – Journalism Educators Association National High School Journalism Convention, College Media Advisers, JEA regional conference, Illinois College Press Association, Twexas Center for Community Journalism, and Illinois Community College Journalism Association. Here are some of the session titles – “Writing Sports Profiles,” “How To Write Visually,” “Covering Games for Print and Online,” "How To Ask Questions That Relly Count," “Covering & Blogging Prep Sports,” "Lead Writing," “Make Your Sports Section A Must Read,” “Keeping Score: Developing A Game Plan,” “Writing Second-Day Game Stories,” “Writing Sports Profiles,” “Blogging Sports,” “‘Virtual’ Football Coverage,” “So You Want To Write A Textbook,” and “How to Invigorate Your Sports Section,” "How To Critique Your Publication," "Writing Game Stories Worth Reading."

Funding & Grants

Achievement and Contribution Award, Research, Eastern Illinois University (2010)
 
Redden Grant for the Improvement of Undergraduate Instruction, Eastern Illinois University Foundation (2011)

Community

Board member, Charleston Futbol Club