The Highwire with Del Bigtree - EMILY AUSTIN: FINDING THE BALANCE

Episode Date: October 25, 2023

Journalist, Independent NBA Broadcaster, and Social Media Influencer, Emily Austin, uses her platform to reach beyond sports reporting and educate her followers on important social issues as a human rights activist.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-highwire-with-del-bigtree--3620606/support.

We're here at Freedom Fest. Why are you here? Why this festival? Why not like a Republican convention or a Democrat convention? What is it about this place? That's a great question. Honestly, I'm not trying to preach a message of politics. I'm not trying to preach vote right, vote left. I'm trying to show people like, hey, it doesn't matter if you're right or left. There's a bigger message to be spread. I'm more into fighting for freedom of speech, human rights, and I don't think human rights should be political. Unfortunately, it is, but that's a narrative I'm trying to change. How does someone in sports broadcasting start caring about human rights? Like how do those things even cross? Yeah, you know, I wish more people did in sports. And I think everyone cares, but what I've found is sports allowed me to grow a huge platform. And I don't take that for granted. And, you know, as I hear more and more people's stories, I hear,

they never had that freedom of speech that I have here in the United States. So let me use my platform. It sounds a little cliche, but let me use the followers I have and the audience I have and the reach that I have to do something better with it. So if I hear of human rights violations going on, whether that's common. combating anti-Semitism or, you know, building bridges between the Jewish community and the black community and the Christian community. I do whatever I can try to show people, look, we're more than, I'm more than a broadcaster and you're more than, I don't care what industry you're in,

like, we're all people. What does your audience think when you start pushing into human rights conversations when they're there to just check out sports? Yeah, so I definitely keep a very healthy balance. There's a funny story when people ask me, I share. I did a period of time at the United Nations working there, and I don't want to bore my audience. I'm very well aware. you guys follow me, you like my sports content.

So I have it screen recorded somewhere. One moment I'm walking out on Khomeini in the Human Rights Council. I staged the walkout with the ambassador during his speech. And then 30 minutes later, I wrote on my Instagram story, hey, guys, do you think the Knicks or the Miami Heat won the NBA off season? Then my next one is, you know, give women their rights to get educated. And then the next one was, okay, guys, so tonight I'm going to ESPN's red carpet and here's what I'll be doing. You know, I think that's a really good way to send my message because you follow me

for the sports, but hey, here's also a really important issue going on without boring you and making your eyes sore with it. So I keep a very healthy balance. My feeling in a lot of what we've gone through, I even think COVID watching your job just taking away and government's starting to really manhandle what you can do. Do you feel like audiences are waking up to saying, I want to get deeper in thinking about things in the world? I hope so. I'm a little concerned with Gen Z. Part of Gen Z, but I think I have an older soul. I'm concerned that people's lack of care. You know, I really try to tell people, you should care.

You know, life is more than sports. Life is more than what's fun. You know, there are serious issues going on. And ultimately, you can't force someone to care. You need to speak to their heart. And I hope that that's what I'm doing, because you really just can't force people to care. Is Gen Z hopeful or do you think part of it's an apathy driven by? I'm never going to own a house.

The system doesn't work. My college education isn't going to get me. That's what we're being told Gen Z is thinking like. Well, that's not entirely wrong. I think the economy is definitely changing. Everything's so expensive. College is really expensive. And I can tell you, I dropped that and I went to another school

because the education I was receiving was not worth the money or the time or the effort. And, you know, I was getting homework assignments like, hey, can you watch this lesbian manga pornography? And if I said, no, I failed, which I did. The scary part about brainwashing is you don't see you're in it. Now, I have a very strong foundation from my parents, which I'm thankful for far. Not everyone has that. Where I could go home, I didn't, I never dormed on campus. I go home and I'm like back to reality, but I go to campus and I'm constantly being fed lies and propaganda and

manipulation, but I was grateful enough like I could see both sides. You know, these kids at dormant universities and they don't have their parents to go back to or who says they even have parents or friends or any foundation whatsoever and they're very impressionable, you believe what you're being told. And that's a problem with college campuses and no, I don't think enough people are aware of the brainwashing and sometimes it's like an abrupt away. of like, oh my God, I've been sucked into this. How do I get out? Yeah. Obviously, you're driven to spread truth to put it in even the places that maybe it wouldn't normally be. What's your goal for the future next few years?

My short-term goal is stick what I'm doing, keep growing my brand, keep speaking my truth, because the best way to portray your message is to do it organically. I don't want to lecture you. I want to inspire you because if you like what I'm doing, then, you know, reflect some of me and yourself. That sounds so cocky, but that's a good way to do it. I agree. Well, keep up. the good work. Thank you. Thanks for having me.