How a broadcast journalist turned a career setback into a major network breakthrough
In short: Cari Champion began her career as a one-woman band in West Virginia, hauling her own camera equipment. After a public firing in Atlanta, she pivoted to sports journalism, eventually becoming a prominent anchor at ESPN and a host for Amazon Prime Video, all while championing the voices of the underdog.
Born on June 1, 1978, in Pasadena, California, Cari Champion studied English at UCLA, where she wrote for the Daily Bruin. Inspired by alumni like Matea Gold, she entered journalism with a mission to challenge negative stereotypes of African Americans and provide a platform for those without a voice. Her early career was defined by grit; she worked as a reporter in West Virginia, where she managed her own production equipment, before moving to the Orange County Newschannel and later WPTV-TV in Florida.
Her path was not without turbulence. In November 2007, while anchoring for WGCL-TV in Atlanta, she was fired after a microphone caught her using a profanity during a technical mishap. Although she was rehired in January 2008, she departed shortly after. This period of transition led her to cover tennis, where reporting on Venus and Serena Williams ignited a passion that helped her secure a role at the Tennis Channel in 2009, beating out over fifty other candidates.
Champion’s rise to national prominence accelerated in 2012 when she joined ESPN to host the debate show First Take, moderating between Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith. After six months of petitioning for a promotion, she became an anchor for SportsCenter in 2015. Throughout her tenure at ESPN, she navigated high-profile challenges, including public harassment, while continuing to push for journalistic depth. She left the network in February 2020, later co-hosting Cari & Jemele (Won't) Stick to Sports and launching The Cari Champion Show on Amazon Prime Video in 2022.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Cari Champion
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