(August 30, 2016) When Ben Creighton learned of a sports anchor/reporter opening in Little Rock, AR through STAA, he almost didn’t apply. “I thought, ‘there’s no way a market 56 station would look at me since I’ve only been at my first post-college job for 1.5 years.'” Not only did they look; They hired him. Creighton is the newest member of the staff at KLRT-TV.
“You gotta believe in yourself and go for it if you see a job you really like,” suggests Creighton. “If you’re talented and you do great work, people will notice you.”
Creighton moves to the Natural State after spending his entire life in the Pacific Northwest. Upon graduating from Washington State University in 2014, he did freelance play-by-play for the West Coast Conference before landing a sports anchor/reporter and play-by-play job at KEZI-TV in Eugene, OR.
“It was weird thinking about how this was going to be the first time ever in my life I’d be living outside of the Northwest,” says Creighton. “But I found that if you want to keep moving up on the market ladder you have to branch out of your comfort zone. When I first moved out of Oregon to go to Washington State for college I was terrified of living somewhere new. But when I graduated I didn’t want to leave.”
Arkansas isn’t totally foreign to Creighton. Many extended family members and friends live in the state. “My grandfather, who grew up in Melbourne, AR, used to tell me stories all the time about how beautiful the Natural State is.”
In Little Rock, Creighton is excited for the variety of sports he’ll be covering. “Obviously you have the Razorbacks (can’t wait to be at my first game inside Razorback Stadium), but also Arkansas State, Central Arkansas and pro teams like the Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Cowboys. There are also many pro athletes and Olympians who call Arkansas home that I plan on doing feature stories on in the near future.”
Creighton will also be the lead live reporter at the premier high school football game each week during FOX16’s “Fearless Friday” shows.
“To make a huge leap to a bigger market, be a part of a great news station, have an endless array of sports coverage/stories and to be close to familiar faces, it was a no-brainier,” he grins.”
Creighton encourages other sportscasting job seekers to be confident. “If you see an opening you like don’t hesitate in applying…sometimes you’ll get rejected, sometimes you’ll surprise yourself and land a huge opportunity. You’ll never know unless you just go for it.”
(Visit Ben’s website).