Zak Keefer is a beat writer for the Indianapolis Star. He covers Butler Bulldogs basketball. This is Keefer's first year on the beat, however, you'd never know it. His writing and reporting is some of the best in the country. Keefer was kind enough to take some time out of his hectic college hoops schedule to talk sports journalism. This edition of The Byliners combines to features in one: a Q&A with Zak Keefer and a podcast.
Listen to the podcast here:
When did you first get the bug to write/report?
It's funny — when I think back to when I was a kid, I was always the strange student in class who actually enjoyed writing research papers. Our teachers would assign five or ten-page reports, and, while my classmates collectively sighed, I looked forward to them. I loved digging into history and reading books and getting my hands on whatever information I could, and equally relished the challenge of putting it all together. That, to go along with a love for sports, made my career choice pretty easy. I can remember being a huge NBA fan as a kid. One day, reading the newspaper, I asked my dad, 'Wait, there are guys that go to every game and write about them? And that's their job?!' From there, I never wanted to do anything else.
Who inspired you?
Writers of all sorts. I've always been a big fan of Sports Illustrated — I've read the magazine cover-to-cover every week for about 15 years — and have always aspired to reach that level. Many of their writers, and many more, have inspired me, along with several others: Rick Reilly (his 1980s, early 1990s work primarily), David Halberstam, Charlie Pierce, John Feinstein, Frank DeFord, S.L. Price, Gary Smith, The Star’s Phil Richards. Today, I’m constantly reading as much as I can. To me, you can’t get better unless you’re reading what others are doing.
You walked out of college into a beat writer’s position at the Indy Star. You said it was your dream job. You’re covering Butler University basketball. How has the job changed?
Well, it wasn’t quite that easy. I actually spent three years covering high school sports at the Greenfield Daily Reporter before coming over to The Star. In that sort of role, you sharpen your teeth amid obscurity – high school volleyball, soccer, cross-country to go along with mainstays football and basketball. But I really enjoyed it. There were some great stories to tell, and I learned a lot. I still use the lessons from my days in Greenfield in my work now. And in my first year at The Star, I did all sorts of stuff, from general assignment video to sidebars to, eventually, features. I had to prove I could handle those sorts of stories before the Butler position became a possibility.
You’ve been on that beat for six years. How do you keep fresh storylines?
This is actually my first year on the Butler beat, but the question still merits discussion. It can be difficult – especially when a team goes on a streak (wins or losses) where all the games seem to run together. Butler, unfortunately for its sake, struggled to begin Big East play, losing its first five games. It can be hard to generate fresh, unique storylines, but you have to look beyond the game. Any great beat writer will tell you the same. What are the players going through? What’s going on off the court? What’s happening behind the scenes? Ask questions to anyone connected to the program. Then ask some more.
It’s vital to build relationships, too, and oftentimes the best ideas come when you least expect it. It was just this season when I heard through the grapevine that Butler’s point guard, Alex Barlow, was playing through a family tragedy. Only after weeks of asking around was I able to narrow down what had happened, and after speaking with Alex and his family, was able to turn it into the sort of feature story that breaks up the monotony of games and advances. I have a lengthy feature coming on Andrew Chrabascz that falls along the same lines.
Is there a sport you prefer to cover? If so, which one?
I hail from Indiana, so hoops are king. I love playing basketball, watching it, writing about it and, for the most part, just being in gyms. How great is your job when you get to work at Hinkle Fieldhouse? I also am an avid runner, so on the rare chance I get to write about distance running, I’m thrilled to do so.
If you had to choose two or three stories that best represent Zak Keefer’s writing and reporting style, which stories would you choose?
There are a few I’ve done at the Star that I was particularly proud of. The first that comes to mind was a profile of Arlena Smith, an 84-year-old woman from Dayton, Ohio, that helped save Roger Brown’s basketball career. (The story ran on the weekend Brown, a former Pacer, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.) What made it unique: Brown’s story was well told by that point, so I wanted to shine a light on Arlena, who took him in at his lowest point. The citizens of Dayton had raised money to send her to the Hall of Fame ceremony.
I also enjoyed doing a story on Bryce Weiler, a blind Evansville student who calls basketball games on the radio, shoots free throws, and has established a surprisingly impressive network in the basketball world, one that includes Brad Stevens and Rick Pitino. Spending the day with Bryce was, among other things, incredibly humbling. So much of what we do on a daily basis is incredibly difficult for him. And, yet, little of his handicap holds him back. He’s an inspiration to us all, and I still keep in touch with him to this day. I hope the story did him justice.
Lastly, I spent about a month working on a story on IU point guard Yogi Ferrell last season. A player that had been covered extensively, I sought a new angle. What had not been written about Yogi yet? So in my reporting I discovered that Yogi was the No. 1 ranked fifth-grader in America at one point before his dad pulled him out of AAU. And it was that detour, more than anything, that helped him become the player he is today.
Has social media, specifically Twitter, changed the way you report?
Absolutely. I couldn’t imagine my job today without it. I wouldn’t say it has changed the way I report, but it has altered the avenue in which my content reaches an audience. There are plusses and minuses, for sure (crazy fans come to mind). But it is an essential tool in today’s world, and for the most part, it’s pure fun.
In a profile interview with your alma mater (Indiana University) you said you trained yourself in photography, videography and journalistic applications of social media. You’re six years removed from college. What skills are critical to thrive in today’s industry?
Simply put – every skill. Learn it all and do it all. One of the most marketable attributes any journalist can have in today’s cutthroat environment is versatility. The days of a reporter simply filing a story for the following morning’s newspaper are long gone. Now, the story is expected immediately, on top of tweets and video. Those that can do all of those – and most significant, do them well – are best suited to succeed.
Would you recommend getting into the newspaper business today?
I would, because I love it. Our jobs are getting harder, the hours longer, the challenges growing. But telling stories – real stories, stories about people and cities and events and our world – remains as important as ever. Those are the stories that move people, that impact lives and that need to be told. And newspapers remain among the outlets that do it best.
You are an extremely gifted writer and reporter – two completely different skillsets. Who’s influenced your writing?
That’s really nice of you to say that. And, going along with the question you asked earlier, I’m constantly reading. That’s where I get most of my inspiration. The New York Times, Washington Post, Grantland, Longform.org and various stops on the web. I’m constantly jotting down ideas on how to approach different stories, how to find them, how to piece them together, what works, what doesn’t. Some of my favorite writers out there today include Thomas Lake, Steve Friedman, Tim Layden, Howard Beck, Rick Maese, Wright Thompson, Lee Jenkins and Bonnie Ford.
Who’s influenced your reporting skills, and how?
You hear stories, and they stay with you. I read once that Gary Smith, for example, interviews 50 people before he even sits down write a story. Fifty. For a story recreating the events of July 3, the day Brad Stevens left Butler for the Boston Celtics, I interviewed about 40 people. The story turned into a 3,000 day-in-the-life opus, but I thought it worked because you heard so many voices and so many experiences from that day.
Now, most of us in the newspaper business aren’t afforded such time for a typical story, but the point is made: No great writers are average reporters. If you don’t do your homework, the reader (not to mention your editor) will know.
Earlier this season you traveled by bus with Bill Raftery and Gus Johnson. First, how did you wiggle your way onto the bus ride?
It was an idea that came from Fox Sports, and I wasn’t going to turn it down. What a fun day. I tried my best to simply stay out of the way and let those two share story after story. It’s impossible to say how much a young journalist can learn from two guys like that.
Second, as reporters, we’re always trying to learn as much as we can about the game we serve. What were the takeaways from that day for you?
First off, it sort of reinforced how much goes into the craft. And preparation is essential. Gus and Bill demonstrated that from the minute we got onto the bus. Bill actually shared with me his notes prior to the Butler-Villanova game, and it was a piece of notebook paper with an incalculable amount of scribbled minutiae on it. I could hardly read it, and it looked like it had taken him no less than five hours to compile all the information. I asked him later if he did the same preparation for every game. “Every game for 30 years,” he said. So that sort of shows you just how much behind-the-scenes work goes into being successful in this industry. Sure, it’s fun. But it’s a lot of work, too.
Sports journalism is a different game now. In your six years as a beat writer, what do you sense readers are looking for?
I think they’re looking for something different. With so much information at our fingertips, the old-fashioned game story is dying. What can you provide that’s different, unique, engaging? That’s what I try to do with the Butler Insider columns. What does this win or loss mean? Where does this leave them? What did it tell us? What was it like? What did it feel like in the locker room or in the arena in the final minutes?
New platforms and tools offer new ways to share a story. You can accomplish this with a video segment, a photo series, the written word, infographics, or a combination of all of these. Is there a specific area of content creation you enjoy most?
I have really enjoyed learning how to do video over the past few years. For example, I profiled Butler’s Kellen Dunham a few weeks back. The story centered on his work ethic, and Kellen allowed me to watch him go through a late-night shooting workout. The story depicted that, but with the added video component (Kellen going through the workout), the reader/viewer could really experience with their own eyes what his workouts were like. Throw in the fact that I added highlights of him making the same shots in games, and it really demonstrated how useful the video element can be.
Final question, give me a list of what tools are in your reporting bag?
* iPhone 4s (use for recording, video, editing, notes, just about everything), a bunch of media guides and my MacBook Pro.
* Bookmarks: IndyStar, New York Times, Big Lead, ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, Grantland, Longform.org, College Basketball Reference, SportsonEarth