For Dianna Russini, the thought of leaving ESPN on her own accord was outlandish and ostensibly implausible. After all, she had earned a multifaceted position focused on the National Football League that involved hosting, analysis and reporting, including newsbreaking and feature reporting. Throughout her time with the network, Russini had demonstrated versatility and advocated for herself. She never declined an assignment and was willing to do anything necessary to survive in the business, a testament to her adaptability and eagerness to serve the audience and thrive.
Russini developed meaningful relationships with her colleagues and the network itself, even providing her ESPN email as an emergency means of contact rather than an unaffiliated email address. Recognizing appreciation for her work and acceptance in the craft, she thought she would never leave, even after sweeping layoffs within The Walt Disney Company that eliminated 7,000 jobs in an effort to slash $5.5 billion in costs. Nonetheless, Russini wanted to start covering more marquee events and be on Monday Night Football, aspirations she gradually felt were becoming unattainable.
“I never felt like they wanted me to be the one,” Russini said. “It was, ‘Keep working hard; keep getting better,’ but at that point, I remember thinking, ‘How much longer is this going to take for me to get on Monday Night Football because I’ve been reporting for a long time now?,’ and I consistently had success on Sunday morning shows; on our pregame shows; [as] the Super Bowl reporter. I basically hit my ceiling in terms of what I could do in that role, and I was still going to sign with them though.”
Although she was prepared to accept an offer that included a raise, she received a last-minute call from her agent who implored her to hold off on inking the contract. Once she learned of interest from The Athletic, she met with several key executives at the company including Steven Ginsberg, the digital platform’s executive editor. The proposition, which would name her the publication’s senior NFL insider, involved her executing reporting, podcasting and video work. One minute into the conversation with Ginsberg, Russini was sold and knew that what once seemed impossible would become a reality.
“It will be a moment for me I’ll never forget where I was; I’ll never forget my family crying [and] jumping up and down,” Russini said. “It was a really cool moment because I knew I was taking a chance again – I was taking another gamble, but I was going to take a gamble on me – and I still have a lot more things I want to accomplish at The Athletic, but I already feel like I won.”
Throughout her journey in sports media, Russini has had to rise above established patterns and tendencies, shattering glass ceilings in the process. Today, she is one of the only women consistently breaking NFL news, an entity that continues to experience a boon in popularity evinced in sales, broadcast ratings and digital engagement. Even though Russini recently completed her first full NFL season on the job, she already knows it is the best job she has ever had and is content in the role.
“The Athletic is an incredible organization that just wants to get it right and tell amazing stories,” Russini said. “My colleagues are already friends of mine – the collaboration – it is the most team-friendly environment I’ve ever been part of. Everyone approaches it [with], ‘How can we be better? How can we make each other better?’”
Whereas she used to travel frequently throughout the season to work at games, Russini remained home for more time and worked remotely. As a result, she was able to consume more NFL action and have a broader scope on the league as a whole. During training camp though, Russini was on the road measuring her comfort level and conversing with players and personnel. Part of her role involves corresponding with reporters and developing rapport with sources, many of whom call her unsolicited. Before her arrival, The Athletic had never had anyone work in the job, and she has sought to be an asset to the reporting team.
“There’s conversations constantly between me and all the reporters on the ground covering the teams,” Russini said. “There’s no ego [and] there’s no bad attitudes. Everyone just wants to advance the stories and get more information.”
The resilience Russini demonstrated as a college athlete at George Mason University has been evident throughout her journalism career, defying the odds and providing timely, objective coverage across various domains. The premise behind her pursuit of a career came out of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. When Russini was in class on that autumn day of her freshman year, the captain of the soccer team showed up at the door and signaled for her to exit the classroom. She then urged her to call her parents, stating she could not explain what exactly was going on.
“My mom answered our house line and she was screaming,” Russini said. “My parents had been married for 40 years and they’ve been together since they were 9 years old. She just was screaming, ‘He won’t leave me; he would never leave me like this,’ and I said, ‘What are you talking about?’ My brother grabbed the phone – my brother works with my dad – and he said, ‘I didn’t go to work today with dad. He’s in Tower One and the World Trade Center’s been attacked.’”
At the instruction of her brother, Russini returned to her dorm after her father had been missing for several hours. Later in the day, she received a call from her father informing her that he was okay and to stay in a safe place before quickly hanging up. Russini’s parents drove overnight to pick her up from school to return home, and they continued to watch news coverage together as the world stood distressed and apoplectic.
“Outside of the emotions of it all, I remember feeling in the moment that the importance of the reporters on the ground giving me information became the most valuable thing to us,” Russini said, “and what a privilege that would be; what an honor it would be to be the messenger at a time when we were all scared and unaware of what was going to happen in our lives, and that was the moment I realized I wanted to be a local news reporter.”
In an effort to challenge herself, Russini channeled her efforts into news rather than sports media and joined News 12 as a general assignment and crime reporter. Shortly thereafter, she became the youngest reporter hired by NBC 4 New York and tried to harness and develop her journalistic abilities in a major media market. Yet Russini was eventually told that the profession probably was not for her and was let go by the network, placing her career ambitions at a crossroads.
At the recommendation of sports anchor Bruce Beck, Russini left New York and began working as a sports reporter at CSN Northwest. The cross-country move was somewhat daunting, especially since she had not been west of Pittsburgh, but she was aware that it was a chance for her to gain repetitions and hone her craft.
“It was a really crucial part of my journey because I was so lost in my life,” Russini said. “My career was really confusing, but that was the city that really gave me a chance.”
Following her stint in Seattle, Russini returned home and out of work, prompting her to revisit previous contacts from years earlier. Replying to an email from an executive at NBC Connecticut in Hartford – an outlet that rejected her five years earlier for a lack of experience – she queried if now would be a better time. Russini was hired on the spot while visiting the studios the next day, acquiescing to the condition that she would do news reporting three days a week and anchor sports on the weekends.
During these news shifts though, there were many breaking news stories that led Russini to be in front of the camera and on real-time coverage. In her role, she was the source of information and updates for communities amid anxiety and affliction. One of these events was the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a national news story for which Russini was among the first reporters on the scene. Witnessing the situation firsthand placed her obligation to the viewing public in perspective and continues to remind her of what is genuinely important.
Four months later, the Boston Marathon bombings sent Russini to Massachusetts for a week to report on the scene. When professional sports resumed in the city, she covered a hockey game between the Boston Bruins and Buffalo Sabres, reminding her of why she loved working in sports. The news director of NBC Washington then saw Russini while taking his daughter on a college visit to Harvard University, proceeding her to land an interview and eventually be hired as a sports anchor. When she was covering the locale’s NFL team, she was upfront about her lack of knowledge and learned the game from connections and other personnel.
“I also remembered from my days in news that while covering a game and analyzing it is important, getting news can really separate you,” Russini said, “so I figured out that if I could take that newsbreaking element that I used as a news reporter and apply it in the sports world, it can have a lot of value, and that’s really what changed my career.”
As Russini developed sources and gained insider scoops, she began to be noticed by various media outlets including ESPN. The network ended up hiring her to be a SportsCenter anchor, but it was a move she was initially hesitant to make because of the fleeting nature of her previous stops. When she met with Jim Vance, the lead anchor at NBC Washington, he spoke of how seldom these opportunities come around and implored her to accept the role.
“‘Don’t not take this job because you don’t have the confidence yet. You’ll figure it out like you always do,’” Russini remembers Vance saying, “and I’m really glad that he gave me that guidance [and] that counsel because in the end he was right. I figured it out – you do; you figure it out – so I’m really glad that I took that leap.”
Transitioning from local news to anchoring SportsCenter required Russini to take part in significant research and diligent preparation before every show. When she first started at the network, she was oftentimes working with partners on ESPNEWS, providing her chances to make mistakes and augment her skillset.
One of the producers eventually chose to make her a solo anchor, an outcome she protested thinking that it was beyond her abilities. Russini ultimately learned that removing contingencies and crutches ultimately enhanced her on-camera repertoire. Despite her shift to anchor the 7 p.m. SportsCenter starting at 2 p.m., she was in the office at 9 a.m. every morning to ensure she was ready.
After accepting a challenge to depart from SportsCenter and cover the NFL, Russini found herself more comfortable on the air and expanding a grid of sources. In her new role at The Athletic, she frequently cold-calls people in an effort to build new contacts and continue reporting. Making sure she maintains preexisting relationships is critical in her job so she can explicate and accurately report the full story.
Russini triangulates her sourcing to strive for accuracy rather than being the first person to break a story. Over the last several months, she has observed that newsbreakers often beat teams, players or agencies to sharing news by a few minutes. The transactional news is more vaporous to her than exploring larger stories that could require weeks and/or months of work to compile a deft, comprehensive report.
“Something I didn’t realize when I wasn’t with The Athletic, and now that I am, is how much players and coaches love reading it and enjoy the work that The Athletic does, and it’s shared with me all the time,” Russini said. “It’s blown me away actually – the support that we get around the NFL – and it’s respect, and to me that is the most important thing you can do and the most important thing you can receive.”
Last December, Russini worked with colleagues Zack Rosenblatt and Jeff Howe to publish a report divulging that New York Jets quarterback Zach Wilson was reluctant to step back into the starting quarterback role for the team after being benched. Wilson had been benched two weeks earlier and the Jets did not plan to play him for the rest of the season.
After injuries and underperformance by the backups though, the team decided to place Wilson back in the role. The next day, Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was supposed to start throughout the year but tore his Achilles tendon on the first offensive drive of the season, criticized the report in an interview on The Pat McAfee Show.
“Having Aaron Rodgers go on ESPN to discredit me or to take shots at me – I don’t necessarily believe that he doesn’t like me or has issues with me,” Russini said. “In fact, every time Aaron Rodgers has gone on the air to talk about a story I’ve done, to me I think it’s actually his sign of respect for what I’m doing because he knows I know, and I know that.”
Interacting with sources merits a level of trust and adherence to standards predicated on credibility and journalistic integrity. While the dissemination of accurate reporting can have negative effects and direct vitriol towards the messenger, Russini knows that there are plenty of readers searching for answers.
After regularly writing for broadcast television over the last two decades, Russini gradually adapted her style to print journalism, something she believes to be the most rewarding part of her new role. In the week after joining The Athletic, Russini called ESPN NFL reporter Jeff Darlington to seek advice on moving into writing on a full-time basis. In response, he told her that she is a reporter rather than a writer and that it would come to her naturally. Darlington ended up being correct, and Russini has had the confidence to navigate the written word with insightful and cogent storytelling.
“It’s been awesome, and we’ve been able to put together some amazing stories already,” Russini said. “The writing part of this was my biggest fear headed into this and has now become the most enjoyable part of the job.”
Since being purchased by The New York Times Company in early 2022, The Athletic has amplified its subscriber base and altered its content strategy. The publication previously concentrated on delivering coverage of all sports teams and leagues around the country, but it is now investing in longer-form, deeper reporting.
The vertical also acts as the source of sports coverage for The New York Times itself, which recently eliminated its longstanding, independent sports section and reassigned reporters to different departments. According to the company’s latest quarterly earnings report, year-over-year losses at The Athletic narrowed to $4.4 million while it concurrently generated $38.5 million in revenue.
Russini is optimistic about the future of the publication and excited to continue her role into the offseason, which includes launching her own podcast. The work, she affirmed, is focused on dominating sports journalism, and she regards her contemporaries as luminaries with the right ideas. While the company laid off nearly 4% of its newsroom in organizational efforts last summer, Russini sees the dedication to growth and progress in the field.
“I don’t have any concerns about where The Athletic is going to be in five years,” Russini said. “If anything, I believe that The Athletic is going to be triple the size that it is now based on the success we’re going to have.”
In signing with The Athletic rather than another television network, Russini still has her television rights and makes occasional appearances on FOX Sports 1. Ahead of next season, she will look to add some additional responsibilities in the space to continue telling stories and information she receives. Through it all, she wants to emit inspiration and convey her dedication to sports media to aspiring professionals and hopes to validate the decision by The Athletic and various other outlets that took a chance on her.
“There aren’t any women breaking news right now, so that is a space I’d like to see more women do,” Russini said. “It’s just me with the guys, and I would love more women to do it at a high level and consistently because I think it’s going to just continue to make the league better and show other women and men that anyone can do it. The days of it just being a man’s game – that’s over.”
Derek Futterman is an associate editor and sports media reporter for Barrett Media. Additionally, he has worked in a broad array of roles in multimedia production – including on live game broadcasts and audiovisual platforms – and in digital content development and management. He previously interned for Paramount within Showtime Networks, wrote for the Long Island Herald and served as lead sports producer at NY2C. To get in touch, email Derek@BarrettMedia.com or find him on X @derekfutterman.
