By Kirstin Heinle
Student writer
Recent Annenberg graduate Laura Lane (B.A. Broadcast Journalism '07, pictured) is hosting Inside Deal, a new 30-minute poker show on ESPN.com. The weekly newscast premiered Aug. 5 and is co-hosted by pro poker player and journalist Bernard Lee.
Lane, who freelances for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com, said the producers approached her to host because they knew she had an interest in poker.
"They had me write a few stories and scripts," she said. "I read on the teleprompter and did an interview. I came back again for another test and that was pretty much it."
Inside Deal is slated for 13 to 14 episodes, which will lead up to the World Series of Poker. Lane describes the show as being perfect for poker ethusiasts of all levels. "It's a good show for the casual fan and for people who are obsessed with poker. It's supposed to be fun, but it's ESPN, so there's a lot of credibility to it."
Airing on Tuesdays, each 30-minute episode of Inside Deal includes guest interviews, poker hand analysis, unseen tournament footage and the latest poker news.
In addition to her gigs with ESPN, Lane is also a senior reporter in New York City for the entertainment magazine OK! Weekly and has appeared as an entertainment commentator on several news outlets including MSNBC and Entertainment Tonight. She attributes much of her success to her education at USC Annenberg.
"Everything I do now, I learned at school," Lane said. "All the TV stuff I do now, I wouldn't know how to do it without school. All the sports reporting I learned from getting to cover the USC football team. I would tag along with ESPN reporters after covering my ATVN stories. By the time I graduated, I think I knew more than a lot of people because there are so many opportunities at Annenberg."
After graduating, Lane decided to stay in Los Angeles because she wanted to cover entertainment.
As she put it, "It's hard to report on entertainment if you're in Nebraska." Her first job was at E! Entertainment where she worked as a production assistant. Within months, she had worked her way up to reporting for E! Online. While covering a USC Rose Bowl game for E!, Lane met an editor for ESPN The Magazine who suggested she start writing for ESPN as well. From there, everything fell into place.
"If you had told me then I would be working at an entertainment magazine and hosting a poker show on ESPN.com now, I would have said you were crazy," Lane said."I just want to keep doing what I'm doing."
Lane suggested to recent grads who are trying to break into the field to stay in touch with classmates and help each other out as much as possible. She also stressed the importance of staying positive in a tough job market.
"You may be in a situation where you're not that happy, but you never know," she said. "You never know who you're going to meet."
