Last week was a sad period for print and broadcast journalism.
Jon Stewart announced he was leaving “The Daily Show” last week, and within the same hour Brian Williams got suspended from NBC for six months.
Bob Simon, a famed journalist for “60 Minutes,” tragically died in a car accident the following day.
On Thursday, we lost The New York Times’ media columnist David Carr, and that night, the sports journalism world also lost a pioneer to cancer.
Unfortunately, 68-year-old Rhonda Glenn didn’t get the same national recognition as her journalism peers.
If you watched ESPN in the 1980s, you knew Glenn’s legacy.
Glenn was the first woman to become a full-time sportscaster for a national network.
One more time, this is important: She was the very first woman to become a full-time sportscaster on a national network.
Just two years after the 24-hour sports network launched, “SportsCenter,” Glenn was hired to the desk.
You may have seen her side-by-side with ESPN legend Chris Berman.
Glenn was a golf commentator for 16 years on ABC Sports, an ESPN affiliate, and was a major component to the United States Golf Association.
ESPN recently dubbed Glenn “the authority on women’s golf, especially USGA championships.”
In 1992, Glenn won the USGA’s International Book Award for her “Illustrated History of Women’s Golf.”
Before her journalism career, Glenn competed in 11 USGA championships, including twice at the U.S. Women’s Open and five times in the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
At the start of her career, in 1969, Glenn acted as a sports reporter in Virgina.
Last year, Glenn was honored by the Golf Writers Association for her dedication and efforts to improve the game.
With all her accomplishments, Glenn paved the way for women in national sports journalism.
Right now, there are 46 female on-air reporters for ESPN.
Without Glenn, we may not have familiar faces like Doris Burke, Erin Andrews and Michelle Beadle.
Glenn has left a lasting legacy, breaking barriers, and her dedication to sports journalism shouldn’t be forgotten.