CJS Press Box

Sean Gregory

Sean Gregory, the senior sports correspondent at TIME, has co-taught Columbia Journalism School’s Sports Reporting course—along with Professor Kelly Whiteside—since 2019. Sports Reporting offers students practical lessons on the ins-and-outs of covering games and personalities, while going in-depth on the critical issues dominating the athletics, on and off the field. Recent graduates of the class are now covering sports at outlets such as ESPN, the Wall Street Journal, Sporito, Front Office Sports, and the San Antonio Express-News.

Since joining TIME as a recent J-School graduate in 2002, Gregory has authored more than 30 sports cover stories for TIME, including profiles of influential athletes like Serena Williams, LeBron James, and Megan Rapinoe, and pieces about pressing issues in sports like the economic model of college sports, the professionalization of youth sports, and football safety. Gregory has covered eight Olympic Games for TIME, as well as multiple Super Bowls, Final Fours, and other major events. Gregory’s writing has been cited in the annual Best American Sports Writing anthology nine times. 

Gregory is a cross-platform contributor to TIME: digital video pieces with Kobe Bryant, Novak Djokovic and other athletic luminaries are among the most-viewed in TIME’s history.

A native and current resident of the Bronx, Gregory holds a B.A. in public policy from Princeton University, where he also played varsity basketball. He also holds an M.S. from the J-School.

KELLY WHITESIDE

Kelly Whiteside has been an adjunct professor for Columbia Journalism School’s Sports Reporting class for 15 years and currently co-teaches the class with Sean Gregory. She is also a professor of sports media and journalism at Montclair State University.
She spent 14 years at USA Today as the national college football writer and also specialized in covering the Olympics and World Cup. She has covered eight Olympic Games, nine World Cups (men’s and women’s), as well as many college football and college basketball national championships, World Series, NBA and NHL playoffs. 

Whiteside served on the 13-member College Football Playoff Selection Committee for three years. She was the first female president of the Football Writers Association of America and was the first woman inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2025. 
Whiteside is also a former reporter at Newsday and staff writer at Sports Illustrated and her work has appeared in The New York Times. She is the author/co-author of three books and a recipient of two Sports Emmy Awards for her work on the 2024 Paris Olympics with NBC Sports.

A resident of Montclair, N.J, Whiteside holds a B.A. in English/Journalism from Rutgers University, where she played soccer before her ACL gave out and she joined the school newspaper. She holds her M.S. from the J-School.