ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Jesse Dougherty is the Washington Nationals beat reporter for the Washington Post. He graduated from Syracuse University in 2016, and joined the Post in February of 2017 after he briefly covered the NHL for the Los Angeles Times. He hopped on the Nats beat in 2018, and became the lead writer for Nationals coverage in 2019—the year the Nationals won their first World Series title. Jesse is also the author of Buzz Saw, the story of how the 2019 Washington Nationals won the World Series.
In this episode, Jesse and I talk about navigating that post-university graduation period and finding a full-time job. Diversity in journalism, sports journalism in particular, and the internship process. We also discuss how he landed at the Washington Post, and what it's like writing about a team year round—162 regular season games, the off-season, and Spring Training. Jesse dives into searching for untold stories, and finding a new angle on a team that plays for seven to eight months throughout the year.
We end on discussing nerves in the press box about writing a game recap, Jesse's advice on looking at a blank screen as an opportunity rather than a burden, the process he took writing his book and how it differed from his regular reporting, and some coverage he did on COVID-19 as sports were on pause earlier in the spring.
