A Minor League Baseball (MiLB) Broadcaster is setting up a fund that will provide a grant that he hopes will bring diversity to the broadcast booth. The fund is an effort to put black broadcasters behind the Minor League mics.
Adam Giardino, with a decade of experience broadcasting in the Minors, has announced plans to fund a $3,000 grant to help bring black broadcaster voices into the booth. Giardino is not alone in this effort, he reportedly has the backing of 40 colleagues around the sport.
In a story found on www.baseballamerica.com, Giardino says the time is right for change.
“We’ve seen a slow but needed influx of female voices into the broadcast ranks, the play-by-play broadcast ranks, and yet, for some reason, we still aren’t seeing minorities, and specifically black voices, in broadcast booths across minor league baseball. Again, what I think we’re seeing now is that change doesn’t just happen if you will it into existence—you need to actually do something tangible.”
While coming up with the money for the grant is part of his goal, the next logical step in Giardinos plan is to get minority broadcasters trained and hired.
“The response has been overwhelming. The money is going to be there for much more than what we could have hoped, and so I think the next step is the creation of scholarship programs for black students who are looking to pursue a career in play-by-play.”
