Three days after graduating from college, Gary Myers took a job reporting for the Associated Press in May 1976. After spending more than 30 years in media, Myers has seen the industry change.

‘Where newspapers are going to be five or 10 years from now, I don’t think anyone can predict that,’ Myers said in room 141 of Newhouse III on Thursday afternoon. ‘The combination of the explosion of the Internet with the downturn of the economy has made it a very difficult time for newspapers.’

Myers, a Syracuse University graduate, came to campus to talk about his career and the changing newspaper industry, as well as to discuss and sign copies of his book ‘The Catch,’ which is about the infamous touchdown pass from Joe Montana to Dwight Clark in the 1982 NFC Championship game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys.

Myers also spoke to the students about the current state of the media industry. As many newspapers continue to struggle financially, Myers said he sees many new sources of information on the internet where many people are now going for news.

Another issue that Myers covered was that of professional teams and leagues creating websites, which compete with newspapers and other news outlets for information.

‘It’s almost an unfair advantage for them to be covering themselves,’ Myers said. ‘All the teams have their own websites now, and they’re breaking news about themselves on their websites.’

While teams are creating their own websites, many players themselves are now serving as sources of information. Myers said that many are trying to control their own messages, eliminating the media as the middle man to convey information to the fans.

Myers also spoke to the students about the current state of the media industry. As many newspapers continue to struggle financially, the Internet now provides countless news sources, Myers said. People are getting their news from Web sites instead of newspapers now, he said.

Even professional sports teams and leagues have Web sites, which compete with outside news sources for information, Myers said.

‘It’s almost an unfair advantage for them to be covering themselves,’ Myers said. ‘All the teams have their own Web sites now, and they’re breaking news about themselves on their Web sites.’

While teams are creating Web sites, many players are controlling what is distributed about them by making their own Web sites. When players control the messages, they eliminate the media as the middle man who convey both positive and negative information to the fans.

Myers currently works as the NFL columnist at the New York Daily News, as well as a co-host on the YES Network’s ‘This Week in Football.’ Myers attributed a large part of his success to the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications brand.

‘The Syracuse name, and specifically the Newhouse name, carries a tremendous amount of weight in the journalism industry,’ Myers said.

Myers began his career at the AP, and in 1980 moved to the Daily News to become the New York Giants beat writer for the paper’s evening edition, Daily News Tonight.

He spoke about some of the hurdles students can expect to be forced to overcome in their careers, similar to those that Myers encountered himself.He spoke about some of the hurdles students can expect to be forced to overcome in their careers, similar to those that Myers encountered himself.

When Daily News Tonight fell upon hard financial times in 1982, Myers was laid off from the paper. But while one door closed, another one opened. Later that year, Myers got a job covering the Dallas Cowboys for The Dallas Morning News.

Covering the Cowboys, Myers would witness one of the most memorable plays in NFL history. ‘The Catch’ -Clark’s leaping touchdown grab – led the 49ers to an improbable victory over the Cowboys and onto the Super Bowl.

‘At that point in time, all we knew was that the 49ers were going to the Super Bowl,’ Myers said in an earlier interview. ‘Right then, we didn’t know that it would start the dynasty and that the Cowboys would never reach the Super Bowl during the 1980s.’

At the lecture, Myers also provided students with a message on breaking into the journalism industry. He made it clear that anyone can achieve success, as long as they have the passion and drive to accomplish it.

‘If you have a passion for what you do, if you’re good at what you do, and you care about what you do, the people that do the hiring will recognize that immediately,’ Myers said.

cjiseman@syr.edu

Published on November 1, 2009 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman