• Josina Anderson is a sports reporter and anchor for ESPN since 2011
• She was born in Washington D.C. USA, in 1978 and is a Leo
• She has several professional achievements and awards, including an Emmy
• She was involved in a controversy with Michael Sam and the LGBT community in 2014
• She has a net worth of $2.2 million and an annual salary of $65,000

 


Josina Anderson is now a well-known sports reporter and anchor for ESPN, where she has been working since 2011. Josina covers National Football League (NFL) events and news, though her path to success was full of difficulties and hard times when she couldn’t even find a job in journalism. Let’s find out more about her age, salary, professional achievements and controversies.

Early life and family

Josina Anderson was born on 15 August 1978, in Washington D.C. USA, so under the sign of Leo and holding American nationality. Her father is Lloyd Anderson, and her mother Yasmin Anderson; Josina has never mentioned their ages or occupations, however it is known that her father is a very sporty person, and often goes to the gym.

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Josina inherited his passion for sports and started her physical activities early. While in high school, she participated in track and field, winning gold medals in the 200 and 400 meter races in the AAU Junior Olympics. She also enjoyed her role of an announcer during their school basketball matches. Josina has a brother who is a film producer, but his name is unknown.

Educational background

Josina matriculated from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland in 1996, then entered the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and graduated in 2000 with a BA in Exercise and Sports Science.

Career

First steps

Before getting into the world of professional journalism, Josina entered Dance Theater of Harlem and Pennsylvania Ballet, and then worked there for several months while she was still studying in her university. She was also a member of the crew of the American Youth Ballet. Josina then understood she wanted to go for journalism, and got the position of an intern on the Washington radio station WTEM in 2000. She was assigned to two shows – “The Donnie Simpson Morning Show” and “The Tony Kornheiser Show”, and completed her internship successfully. However, she decided to quit WTEM as CBS offered her the position of a reporter and sports news anchor in their local office in Oregon.

Josina Anderson

Josina liked living and working in Oregon, but didn’t make much progress with CBS, so she started sending her CV and live recordings around the country to find the job of her dreams. Unfortunately, she didn’t find anything else in Oregon, so decided to quit CBS and return to Washington, even though she didn’t have any job offers at that moment.

Struggling in Washington

When Josina got back to Washington, hoping to find a new job a bit quicker than it went in Oregon, there was nothing for her. She was unemployed for more than two months, and had hard times with little money in her pocket, so she had to return to her personal trainer activities to earn enough cash, waiting for another opportunity in reporting.

The hard period was over in 2005 when she finally got a position at FOX 31. She applied there twice (the first time was in 2003, but was refused), and passed all the stages of interviews to get the job. However, she had to move to Denver, Colorado, as the show she was signed to was set there. She covered many important and major events, and controversies during the years of her working on FOX 31, including the marijuana scandal with two premier NFL stars, Travis Henry and Ricky Williams, whose tests were positive for the drug in July 2008. A similar case happened in October 2008, when several sportsmen were caught taking steroids. In 2010 Josina worked as a reporter and anchor on the “Inside the NFL” program, and it was the last year of her working for CBS.

Working for ESPN

In 2011 Josina quit CBS and started working for ESPN, where she is still working today. Josina holds the position of a national sports reporter which she was offered by ESPN without any interview – she accepted at once. She moved to Chicago, and enjoys working there. She also interviews such NFL stars as Olivier Vernon, Travis Kelce and Sheldon Richardson, and covered the New England Patriots for Super Bowl LII.

Awards

In 2009 Josina’s coverage of John Dutton, a famous quarterback, and his wife Terina’s special trip to Ethiopia, to adopt Miki, their 11-year-old son, helped her to win a Heartland Emmy award. Josina also won a Salute to Excellence award in 2014 for reports on the radio entitled “Outside the Lines and The Sporting Life” in which she interviewed Dwayne Bray and Brandon Lowe.

Controversy with Michael Sam and LGBT community

Josina’s career wasn’t cloudless during all those years, and she once got into a very unpleasant situation which tarnished her reputation. In August 2014 when she reported from St. Louis, she dropped that Michael Sam waits for his teammates to takes a shower, entering the bathroom only after they finish their hygiene procedures: ‘Another Rams defensive player told me that ‘Sam is respecting our space’ and that, from his perspective, he seems to think that Michael Sam is waiting to take a shower, as not to make his teammates feel uncomfortable’, she said in her report.

The uncomfortable moment in the whole situation was that Josina was asked to report about Sam’s fitting in with his new teammates in the Rams, while Josina decided to focus on his showering habits. Another uncomfortable moment is that Michael Sam was the first person in the NFL who openly ‘came out’ to be a gay, so Josina’s report mainly referred to the way of how a gay fits into the Rams, not a new player, and this shifted focus was highly criticized by social media, LGBT activists and other sports personalities, including Rams coach Jeff Fisher.

ESPN first defended their employee, however they later announced a public apology for the situation and Josina’s words.

Personal life

Josina never shares any details of her private life, and it is really hard to say whether she is single or has a boyfriend. It is known for sure that she isn’t married, and doesn’t have any kids. However, she was rumored to have an affair with a colleague in 2011 which Josina never confirmed, and denies any gossips about her current boyfriend. She never posts any photos of her current or former boyfriends on her social media profiles.

Hobbies and interesting facts

  • In 2016 Josina bet that if Trevor Sieman became the starting quarterback (for the New York Jets), she would cut her hair completely.
  • Eventually she lost the bet, as Trevor indeed began the season as the starting quarterback, and she shaved her head bald, then hosted her show without any wig on her head.
  • Josina is a dog lover; she has a dog named Ms Nahla Bear.
  • She is a big fashion enthusiast and always tries not to miss a fashion show of her favorite designers, such as Balmain, Rhuigi Villaseñor and Alexander McQueen.
  • Josina supports women who suffered from any forms of abuse; she hosted Global Sports Development Humanitarian Awards honoring the gymnasts who spoke out against Larry Nassar, accusing him of consistent intimidation and sexual abuse.
  • However, she didn’t speak against Karl Lagerfeld when he died, though he was said to be a misogynist and racist – she mourned over his death while many other women accused him posthumously for being a misogynist and called up other women to ignore worldwide mourning over him.
  • Josina’s favorite singer is Tina Turner.
Josina Anderson

Social media presence

Josina is very active on various social media platforms, and often communicates with her fans there. Her Instagram account has over 56,000 subscribers, and posts there a lot of personal content: she often shared the details of her trips to fashion shows, her make-up routine and skin care tips. Her Twitter profile, started in 2009, is now read by almost 150,000 people, and she posts there several times a day. Her Facebook page is followed and liked by over 44,000 users, though she is not very active on it, as her latest post appeared in 2018.

Appearance, clothing style

Josina has long black hair which is naturally very curly, so her hairdresser spends much time straightening it, as Josina can rarely be seen with curls; she has dark brown eyes.

Josina is 5ft 8ins (1.73m) tall, weighs around 150lbs (68kgs), and her vital statistics are 34-26-35. As to her clothing style, she prefers casual looks but always sticks to military patterns on her clothes. Her favorite color is khaki, and it suits her well.

Net worth and salary

According to authoritative sources, Josina’s net worth is estimated to be around $2.2 million, accumulated by working hard as a sports reporter and anchor on several major TV channels, such as CBS and ESPN. Her annual salary is said to be around $65,000.

Movies

Self

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Mike & Mike2015TV SeriesHerself - ESPN NFL Reporter

Archive Footage

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Media Buzz2014TV SeriesHerself - ESPN Reporter

Source: IMDb, Wikipedia

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