by Mariana Zardetto Alves

Harrington School senior Stone Freeman knows firsthand the benefit of the school’s focus on experiential learning. Freeman currently serves as the sports reporter for the athletics department at URI.

To gain exposure to the world of sports, Freeman has participated in several key internships at local radio and television news stations like WLNE ABC6, WJAR Channel 10, and “The Gresh Show” on WPRO 99.7 FM. At his current internship with 98.5 The Sports Hub, Freeman produces and cuts audio during the the home football games of the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.

Freeman believes that social media, Twitter in particular, is a great way sports reporters can report and reach fans and spectators.

“When I am in the locker-room with Tom Brady,” Freeman said, “it is a lot cooler to be able to post that than just going home to tell mom and dad about it.”

Freeman has also seen the benefits of networking on social media.

“One day, I was sitting in my dorm watching the local news,” Freeman said. “Then, I see a guy reporting at the Ryan Center. So, I thought, that is right here. And, I tweeted ‘@nickcoy has the best job in the world’. His response to me was ‘ I got a pretty good gig.’ I tweeted back ‘can I get a follow?’ Sure enough, two years later I interned for him.”

In addition to his URI athletics duties and his internship, Freeman recently created his own podcast, The Stone Freeman Podcast, which is available on iTunes and SoundCloud. The podcast focuses on sports and has a segment where Twitter questions are answered.

“I am 30 people shy of 1,000 followers,” Freeman said. “So, that is 1,000 people that will see what I post and that will watch my package.”