Ambassador
Shannon Belt
She/Her
Sports Reporter | The Stockton Record
A little bit about me:
My name is Shannon Belt, and I am a lover of sports and a Compton, California native. I am currently the sports reporter at The Stockton Record covering high school, college, and semi-professional sports across San Joaquin County. When I’m not writing or consuming sports, I’m the ultimate binge-watcher of various tv shows.
Describe a Gannett project that has inspired you.
Rebuilding the high school sports coverage in Stockton has helped me discover my love for high school sports and the foundation it sets for athletes in the future. When I first took over as The Record’s sports reporter, I called every single high school football coach and went to as many practices as I could ahead of the fall 2022 season. I have spent time getting ingrained in the Stockton community across the 25 high schools. Along with connecting with football coaches, I created a master Stockton sports contact list – something the paper hadn’t had in over a decade. While this project is something that’ll be ongoing during my time in Stockton, I have dispelled the myth that The Record sports section is dead. We now have a consistent sports plan for covering prep sports, especially football one of the top sports in Stockton. You can read more here.
Describe the moment in your career at Gannett that you know you and Gannett were a perfect fit.
I knew Gannett was the right fit for me when I arrived in Stockton and got to see all the history of community reporting that’s been going on out here. Although the business has changed drastically over time, The Record and Gannett still offer reporters the space to hone in on the surrounding areas and tell stories that matter to people out here.
Describe one of your individual strengths
My biggest strength is adaptability. When I started working at Gannett it was before I graduated college and balancing the two took a lot of adapting to working a job remotely for the first time ever and balancing both at the same time.
Pick one word to describe the culture at Gannett
I choose the word evolving because I think that the culture at Gannett reflects the state of journalism, which is constantly changing to match the desires of readers. The Stockton Record has evolved over the decades through print, digital, and the emergence of social media, which I think is a testament to what journalism is all about – evolving.
Gannett enables me to grow by _______.
Since I started working at Gannett, the resources I’ve been given has helped me grow rapidly as a young professional. From the mentorship program to connecting with reporters and editors through Gannett’s Center for Community Journalism, I have gained knowledge of both the company and community-based reporting.
A day in the life
The Stockton Record team got together for an out-of-the-newsroom photo with the marina in the background that sits right outside of our newsroom. Reporters who couldn’t make it made an appearance over the phone.
When I’m not working, I rarely stray away from the sports world. I dragged my girlfriend Autumn, to an Oakland A’s game before they are off to Las Vegas. I hope to see every professional baseball stadium someday so I can see which one is my favorite.
I attended Stagg High School’s baseball Hall of Fame game in 2023 and caught a photo of the pamphlet. I go to so many different sporting events on a regular basis and at this game, Stagg faced off against it’s baseball rival, Franklin High School.
