Spartan Echo

Leon H. Carter pictured above (Leon H. Carter/The Athletic).

A pioneering figure in sports journalism, Leon H. Carter is the Editor at Large for The Athletic, and has reshaped the industry through mentorship, inspiring generations of writers, and bridging gaps in newsroom diversity. 

“You can do whatever you want to do, but you have to make that commitment toward excellence,” said Carter. “You cannot make shortcuts and expect to be excellent and expect to succeed… work your butt off.”

Leon Carter’s interest in sports journalism began during his summer breaks in rural Halifax County, Virginia, where he would clip articles from the local newspaper, rewrite them, and record himself as a broadcaster.  In junior high, he wrote for what was considered the school newspaper, then later took newspaper classes in the 10th grade of high school. 

Carter’s senior year of high school is where his love for Norfolk State blossomed. He visited the Mass Communications Department at Norfolk State and learned about the Spartan Echo Newspaper. Intrigued by its system, he envisioned himself working at a publication where the paper came out once a week. 

“After visiting, I came back home and began thinking about it more and more. I decided to go back to Norfolk State over the summer and commit to going just to learn a little bit more,” said Carter. “On day two, I joined the Spartan Echo and stayed there until I graduated four years later.” 

Publishing only three stories in his first year, Carter eventually found balance between being a student and a journalist. Overtime, he pushed the Spartan Echo to produce more stories, moving from publishing every week to covering important events including the CIAA Tournament. During his tenure at the Echo, he was assistant sports editor his sophomore year, sports editor his junior year, and assumed the role editor-in-chief his senior year. 

“Just as I knew that writing or journalism was going to be part of my future, I knew I was going to be a sports editor someday and go down a path where very few minorities had gone down, and that was on the management side,” said Carter. “I was going to run my own department and I was going to help direct coverage. It was not so much trying to be a writer… I wanted to be the boss.”

The accolades Carter received throughout his career speak for themself and showcases the trailblazer that he is. While at The Athletic, the Leon H. Carter Newsroom Internship Program was started in the fall of 2024. He received the 2023 Roone Arledge Award and was the third African-American to receive the Red Smith Award in 2022. On top of that, Carter has held numerous monumental positions as the first African-American in certain companies and in the world.

“When I joined Louisville, I was the first African-American sports copy editor on the sports desk. When I joined Newsday, I was their first African-American copy editor on the sports desk, and when I got to the New York Daily News in 1994, I later became their first African-American sports editor, one of the few to reach that position in the country,” said Carter. 

Even with the plethora of barriers he has broken, Carter is most proud of founding the Sports Journalism Institute. SJI is a training internship program for college students interested in sports journalism careers. Beginning in 1992 at Norfolk State, it is now welcoming its 33rd cohort and has assisted women and minorities break into the journalism industry. 

The idea of the institute stemmed from Carter teaching classes at Norfolk State for a program. It was a great experience to see the progress in the students he worked with both in his classes and the Spartan Echo. Carter had received a grant after the sabbatical was over at Norfolk State and wanted to create SJI to continue pouring into college students interested in sports journalism. 

“SJI has had a tremendous impact on  lives and that is what you want to do when you go through life: to have an impact on other people’s lives and to be able to do something that will open the door for other people,” said Carter. “That has been the thing that has kept me going for 33 years dealing with SJI. You see the impact that you are making on young people and also on the industry.”