WBD Sports Summer Diversity Program Exposes Three Students to Career Opportunities

Each will participate in 12-week summer internship, receive $5,000 scholarship

Warner Bros. Discovery Sports has announced partnerships with the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), and National Association for Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) for its 2023 summer internship program. This is the first time a student representing each of the three professional journalism groups will join the organization for a 12-week summer internship and receive a $5,000 scholarship.

WBD Sports worked with each association’s sports task force to select the interns. The recipients are AAJA member Ryan Chien, University of California Berkley; NABJ member Miles Johnson, Morehouse College; NAHJ member Anthony Yero, Arizona State University.

The interns will work across various WBD Sports groups — digital, editorial, production, social — to learn more about and contribute to premium sports brands and award-winning content. The scholarships will contribute to the remainder of their college education.

“We believe diversity and inclusion are essential to building stronger connections with our audiences and the content we create,” says Johnita Due, chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer, WBD News and Sports. “Sports leagues, teams, athletes, and fans are vastly diverse, and we are committed to reflecting that richness across all screens and behind the scenes.”

AAJA, NABJ, and NAHJ sports task forces create opportunities to develop aspiring sports professionals and to work with organizations to become more-equitable workspaces. This is the second year of the AAJA internship created by Bleacher Report.

This year, the NABJ internship is made possible by WBD Sports’ Sekou Smith Memorial Internship, which launched in 2021 in memory of Sekou Smith, a member of the WBD Sports and NBA family for more than 11 years as a contributor to NBA coverage as a reporter, on-air analyst, and podcast host. WBD Sports created the internship so that one student could have an opportunity to work in the field where Smith had such an impact. Additionally, this year marks the first time WBD Sports and NAHJ partner for an internship program.

Partnerships with AAJA, NABJ, and NAHJ are part of WBD Sports’ award-winning DEI efforts to strengthen the pipeline of the next generation of leaders across the industry. WBD Sports’ commitment to DEI inspires authentic content production that spotlights untold stories and reflects all fans and athletes across its networks and digital platforms.