On Background: Meet Alex Zietlow, our sports reporter covering NASCAR and Charlotte FC
This mini Q&A vignette is a part of an going series called “On Background” to reacquaint readers with the team of journalists working in our newsroom. Responses edited for clarity.
Before joining the Charlotte Observer in August, Alex Zietlow was the sports editor for the Rock Hill Herald, a job he’s held since 2019.
A North Carolina native, Alex grew up in Raleigh and is a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill. Following college, he quickly earned an internship at the News & Observer, a sister publication with The Observer.
Alex writes about NASCAR and Charlotte FC and loves to find the ways sports intersects with life in Charlotte.
Already a prolific writer, Alex has garnered numerous accolades: nine South Carolina Press Association Awards and one from the North Carolina Press Association. In addition, he has earned AP sports editor writing contest awards and was nominated by the U.S. Basketball Writers’ Association for his coverage of Winthrope University’s men basketball.
How did you get into journalism?
No idea. I remember declaring to my parents when I was a seventh grader that I wanted to be a writer. As a 25-year-old, I’m probably (and pridefully) part of the last generation of kids who grew up eating cereal across from their parents reading the morning paper, and watching them laugh, wince and be enraged by what the local columnist espoused. I’m fortunate to be living a childhood dream and honored to be part of local journalism finding its new identity.
What excites you about this field?
I get to write about life in North Carolina, my native state. I get to write about sports, a topic that so often unites us and brings us hope and speaks to a whole bunch of different people from a whole bunch of different backgrounds. I’m truly living a dream.
What is the most interesting aspect of your beat/job?
NASCAR is fascinating for how closely tethered it is to Charlotte. It’s headquartered here. It’s part of our area’s culture and the south’s history. It fosters a family-to-family and generation-to-generation fandom that’s unique to any other sport. There’s beauty in that. There’s also beauty in covering a new team that has represented a new era in Charlotte sports — that has made Charlotte feel like home for so many.
Bigger picture: The local sports page is a place where people can come together, live in the same reality, get glimpses into other sides of humanity they can’t in other parts of life. It’s enriching and vital, and in tandem with the rest of an ambitious local newspaper, it can help save the world. And it’s awesome to be a part of this effort.
Words of wisdom you’ve received?
I believe in all the platitudes that come with journalism — holding power to account, enriching neighborhood life, delivering everyone in a community a deserved sense of belonging. I believe in them so much that, at present, I want to do this forever.
I say all this to segue into some words of wisdom I received from a former high school coach who always preached that hard work and life-balance are equally essential. The quote: “For everything in life, make sure the ship gets to shore, and make sure you smell the roses.”
Proud life moments? Something you’d like to improve?
I once hit two buzzer-beater threes in the same game to send my intramural basketball team to overtime AND double-overtime. (We ended up losing, but I’ll be telling my kids about this one day.) One time, some friends and I started singing a song in an Uber and the driver mistook us for an a cappella group. Professionally, I’m proud of the work I’ve done in all three McClatchy-managed newsrooms
Fun facts about you?
I love musicals. I’m a peanut butter and jelly sandwich connoisseur. I enjoy sending voice memos. I’ve also played the drums for 15 years, but I still struggle with the rudiments. Life reveals life, reveals life.
This story was originally published November 21, 2022 at 12:00 AM.
