Zoë Comerford checks in
Recent alumna Zoë Comerford is putting her degree to work and making a difference in her new role as a Social Media Producer with CBS Sports.
My name is Zoë Comerford, and I’m a current Social Media Producer for CBS Sports working remotely from my childhood home in Naperville, Illinois. I graduated from the Diederich College of Communication in May 2021 with a double major in journalism and digital media and a double minor in spanish and theology.
Basically, the moral of the story is to network as much as you can at Marquette because you never know who that person knows or where that connection will take you.
Right after graduating I had an internship with ESPN that lasted for six months in the social media department. When I was there I was able to work with talent, like Adrian Wojnarowski, Adam Schefter, Jeff Passan, Richard Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins to name a few, and I also covered two shows everyday: “Get Up” and “First Take.” I was helping talent post on their own social pages, while also contributing to Get Up and First Take’s Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts. I also made posts for NBA, NFL and main ESPN accounts as well. That was such a unique experience because I was able to use a lot of my journalistic skills when I was quoting someone from a show because you can’t editorialize. You have to take what they say word-for-word. I also had to be very timely for a lot of posts when talent would have to break news, so that was also something I had done while I was at the Marquette Wire — I wrote game recaps and breaking stories in a timely manner.
In my current role at CBS, I work for the social media department and I have a slew of responsibilities. My main focus is on CBS Sports Network, which is one of our stations that has college basketball, college football and golf (as well as bull racing and some other sports) on it. I live tweet games for the account and am responsible for knowing which games on my channel and who is staffed to work the games. Usually it is me, but if I am off that day, I have to delegate to others. Another one of my responsibilities is helping talent. I work a few shows, like I did at ESPN and tweet quotes or segments that I think could go viral. I mainly focus on “Time to Schein” with Adam Schein, “Inside College Football,” “Inside College Basketball,” “That Other Pregame Show” (during the National Football League season) and Course Record with Michael Breed. Not only do I focus on Twitter and live tweeting during shows and games, but I also assist with making posts for the main Instagram page, promos for NFL and college basketball games that are on CBS, as well as helping out with voicing TikToks and creating them. What I love the most is that when I go into work every day is different. There are always different games on our air and my hours are never the same. Some days I work nights (for example during March Madness) and sometimes I work during the day. But have so many different tasks I help out with at CBS and I love how I am in charge of that entire account.
I am enjoying what I am doing because I truly believe that social media in that it’s a mix of both my majors. I get to cover live events by live tweeting, like I used to do for Marquette basketball games when I worked for the Wire, but I also am able to be more creative and storytell through Instagram carousels and promos. Marquette made me an extremely well-rounded journalist and now I am really showing that I can do more than just what I went to school for. Even though I’m not a producer or working for a newspaper, I’m still able to tell stories, but in a more creative way than just inverted-pyramid style.
I remember telling my sports desk that anyone can put out a game recap, but it’s the features and people that can tell stories who are going to make a real difference. You are able to show a side to someone that could be beyond who they are on the field or what their stat line looks like because at the end of the day, athletes are just people. We need to show the human interest side more because that’s what people are interested in. What is this player doing that I can relate to? Do they help out in the community? How have they made an impact off the field? How have they gotten to where they are today?
I remember sitting in a theology class last year and my professor asked us what our career goals are and why we chose our majors. Some people were studying to be engineers. Others were doctors. Others were teacher. But I recall sitting there and saying, how can I change someone’s life in sports media? I was starting to have an answer last year, but now I feel that I have fully formulated my answer: to tell meaningful stories and go beyond a simple game recap. Everyone has a story to tell and in my opinion it’s the journalists and the people that tell those stories who resonate with the audience the most.
My advice for students
Make as many connections as you can at Marquette. We have a wide net of alumni, and they’re always willing to help out fellow Marquette students or alums. I was in the Marquette Mentors program my sophomore year and was paired with Len Kasper, who was the Cubs play-by-play announcer at the time. He’s now with the White Sox and we still talk every couple weeks just to check in with each other. He has helped me make some career choices and when I was at Marquette he would give me broadcast tips and then also read my articles and provide feedback there as well. From my connection with Len, he helped me get an interview with WGN in Chicago and then I interviewed and got an internship with them in Summer 2019. From that internship, connections made there helped me land a runner position for Bucks games where I got to work a Bucks-Lakers game in December of 2019.
Another time I utilized a connection was after meeting Marquette alum, Michael Huang, through a friend of his who had seen my article from the Marquette Wire. He helped me apply for my ESPN internship, which I secured in April of my senior year.
Basically, the moral of the story is to network as much as you can at Marquette because you never know who that person knows or where that connection will take you.
My favorite Marquette memory
Wow, there are so many memories at Marquette that I have cherished over the years from being able to broadcast Markus Howard 40-plus-point performances, traveling to cover sporting events, covering breaking news, writing stories that went viral and winning awards at journalism conferences. But I would definitely say a top memory, besides walking across the stage getting my diploma and being praised by Bill Scholl for a piece I wrote, was being able to broadcast the Senior Day game last March at Fiserv Forum for the final time. I was really upset that the entire season there would be no fans and limited media, but just being able to finish my senior year with my last broadcast in that arena was something I will never forget.
