How Jemele Hill Became the ‘Accidental Activist’
By CASSANDRA COUSINEAU
LVSportsBiz.com
Jemele Hill is an Emmy award-winning journalist, staff writer for the Atlantic, and co-founder of Lodge Freeway Media.
Hill also gave herself a new title: the “Accidental Activist.”
After all, her exit from ESPN in August 2018 followed a two-week firestorm in which the network found itself engulfed in a PR firestorm largely due to Hill’s controversial comments and Tweets about President Trump. Here’s a back story about the controversy.
The newly engaged Hill was in Las Vegas last week when she was featured on an informal CES panel hosted by Danielle Lee of Spotify. Hill spoke with candor to a room full of women attending The Girls’ Lounge hosted in the lush, two-story, penthouse suite of the Encore hotel. The session was billed as an unplugged conversation about the power of the female voice.
The Detroit native has since taken her reportedly more than $5 million buyout from the Disney-owned network, and embraced a platform which allows her to combine a 25-year history as a sports writer and analyst with a passion for speaking on culture and issues of inclusion.
“Journalists aren’t supposed to be activists,” Hill said during the audience at CES, Las Vegas’ biggest annual trade show that brought 180,000 visitors from 160 countries to LV.
“It’s really our job to bring awareness and attention to subjects. In turn, we create opportunities for people to think. THAT is our activism,” she said.
Hill was also in town to announce a new partnership with Spotify. Beginning in March, for two days a week, Hill will lend her voice to a new podcast called, “Unbothered.” She’ll cover a range of topics including sports to politics to music to identity to culture.
When asked if she was surprised by the reaction to her Tweets about the president, she responded, “The credo of this business is don’t make yourself the story.” Now, every time she speaks, she is the story.
The 43-year-old Hill also took the opportunity to share a bit of career wisdom with the 200 or so attendees leaning in to listen. She explained the difference between a mentor, ally, and a sponsor — and that resonated with the women in the packed room. Check the video here to understand that difference:
As most career women do, Hill turns to a more strategic place when reacting to suffering an injustice in the workplace. “Rote memory has to take over. Sometimes, you can’t substitute experience.”
Hill ended the panel by encouraging women in sports media especially bet on themselves. “It’s OK to be passionate about your subject, just have evidence. Most of all believe in your voice,” she said.
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