Journalism Senior Appears on ESPN Show

MSU Journalism senior Rachel Fradette appears on a national sports show on ESPN.

Rachel Fradette, a senior in the Michigan State University School of Journalism, enlightened an ESPN national audience on Wednesday, January 17 when she appeared on a national sports news program to discuss the Larry Nassar story.

Fradette, who is the Editor-in-Chief of The State News, was asked to appear on the ESPN show "Outside the Lines" to discuss the coverage of Nassar, the former USA gymnastics and MSU team physician who pleaded guilty in November to 10 counts of first-degree criminal sexual misconduct. He received a 60-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to federal child pornography charges.

Fradette discussed how The State News has covered the Nassar story, as well as how students are reacting to and coping with the news. Fradette shared her perspective for host Bob Ley on "Outside The Lines," which is ESPN's signature news show.

The opportunity for Fradette to appear on ESPN started percolating the previous day in class, when Journalism Professor Joanne Gerstner showed her class a live episode of Outside The Lines about the Nassar story. Gerstner corresponded during the class with an ESPN colleague, who was impressed that the class was studying the broadcast, and the idea developed from there.

The appearance wasn't without its anxious moments. As Gerstner helped Fradette with her make-up, hair and wardrobe, they ran out of eye shadow. They scrambled before going to Plan B: Finding Dr. Lucinda Davenport, the MSU School of Journalism Director, who stepped in with a couple of timely make-up reinforcements.

WKAR and Brant Wells provided their technical support with the live shot in the studio.

Fradette's segment is posted at  http://www.espn.com/video/archive/_/channel/outside-the-lines.