By: MADISON MCCARTHY / SPORTS CO-EDITOR
It’s been almost four years since the merger of the LIU Brooklyn and Post campuses, and now the Sharks are getting a major media update. From mic’d up segments to updated bios, LIU’s new Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations Adam Rubin is perfecting it all.
Joining the Sharks at the end of the Spring 2022 semester, Rubin started off his new role in the spotlight as LIU’s baseball team made their run in the NCAA World Series, and he hasn’t stopped yet. Rubin said the following about his time traveling with the team:
“It was great right off the bat to be able to be embedded with the team having a lot of success. I caught Mount Saint Mary's for the final weekend of the end of the regular season. So, I got to know everybody and saw them clinch. Then I got to see them go to the NCAA tournament. We were, right off the get go able to get a lot of media attention for the team”
As a former sports reporter covering the New York Mets, Rubin shifted his career in a major way by joining the collegiate athletics realm. He highlighted that,
“When you’re a sports reporter you are chronicling other people’s moments. When you're in my role now, you’re not the person on the field, but getting to see the highs and the lows of the season.”
With changes in the media industry and how society gets their news, adapting with the times is something a lot of people have had to do in order to continue working in the industry. Rubin noted:
“Because a lot of people were cord cutting, ESPN wasn’t doing as well financially, now they are selling the disney bundle and reaching the consumer directly but at the time six years ago they weren’t getting the same revenue they were used to… I had opportunities to stay in journalism but I’m in my 40s and I wanted an opportunity where I could work another 20-30 years. Media companies are having a tough time financially, finding the model that works.”
As for him joining college athletics, it was beneficial in order to be able to do the things he’s best at.
“I made the decision that my skill set was really conducive to working in college athletic communications. Partly because.. It [college media relations] evolved a lot where it's mostly about content creation. That was my wheelhouse as a journalist.”
Over the summer he updated all things LIU starting with a website refresh consisting of an update for the the athletes bios:
“From the get go we have made it our purpose to update the bios, which had not been touched in a while. Virtually every student-athlete now has a bio that's much more representative of their past accomplishments and we update the bios as accomplishments happen…It goes in their bios right away.”
Given Rubin’s background in journalism, he also focuses on telling the stories of athletes off the field as well.
“We are doing a lot more story telling, in print and video form, that I oversee. So, I would like to do more print features on the website… When we had student-athletes fill out the bio form, we asked each individual, “tell me something interesting about yourself”. I have a document with all these answers and story ideas to tell over time”
Outside of big picture ideas, Rubin is working with his department to update the smaller details.
“Even the little things like game management. Even though it's not glamorous it’s making sure the stats are entered properly, the live stats work, and photography. The instagram accounts and social media have taken a step forward because we are having almost every home event covered by a photographer. We have also been giving the student-athletes access to them [photos] too… so they can share on their own social media and amplify the message”
While LIU might not have the biggest department and resources to make everything larger schools can, Rubin plans on continuing to improve athletic coverage on both campuses. He highlighted that while the department may be small, they are working to advance in content quality:
“Finding the time to create that content, while managing all the games is certainly a challenge but it's one we’re up for.”
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