Richard Deitsch

{{short description|American sportswriter|bot=PearBOT 5}}

Richard Deitsch is an American sportswriter. He wrote for Sports Illustrated from 1997 until 2018.{{cite web|title=Richard Deitsch|url=http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/profile/357-richard-deitsch/10|work=Columbia Journalism School|accessdate=18 April 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413131944/http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/profile/357-richard-deitsch/10|archivedate=13 April 2014}} Currently, he writes for the online publication The Athletic and is a radio host in Toronto.{{cite web |url=https://thebiglead.com/2018/03/12/richard-deitsch-athletic-leaving-sports-illustrated/ |title=Richard Deitsch Leaving Sports Illustrated for The Athletic {{!}} The Big Lead |website=thebiglead.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312184507/https://thebiglead.com/2018/03/12/richard-deitsch-athletic-leaving-sports-illustrated/ |archive-date=2018-03-12}}

Deitsch graduated with a B.A. in communications and political science from the University at Buffalo. While studying there, he worked on the school's student newspaper, The Spectrum, which fostered in him a love of journalism.{{Cite web|url=http://www.buffalo.edu/atbuffalo/past-issues/summer-2014/article-page-summer-2014.host.html/content/shared/www/atbuffalo/articles/summer-2014/class-notes/ubs-guy-at-si.detail.html|title = Article Host page - Summer 2014}} This led him to obtain an M.S. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism., where he would later become an adjunct professor.

He began his career in 1997 at Sports Illustrated, fulfilling a childhood aspiration sparked by his mother giving him a subscription to the magazine as a 7-year-old growing up in Wantagh, New York. Beginning as an intern at Sports Illustrated Kids, Deitsch went on to cover nearly every division at Sports Illustrated.

During the 2008-09 academic year, he was at the University of Michigan, studying as a Knight-Wallace Fellow. While there, he examined the intersection of 20-somethings and the sports blogosphere.

On February 22, 2018, it was announced that Deitsch would join CJCL, Sportsnet 590 The Fan, as a regular co-host for its drive-time show Prime Time Sports, beginning the week of March 5.{{Cite web|url=https://about.rogers.com/news-ideas/stephen-brunt-richard-deitsch-join-prime-time-sports-bob-mccown-co-hosts-sportsnet-590-fan|title=Stephen Brunt and Richard Deitsch Join Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown as Co-Hosts, on Sportsnet 590 the FAN|date=22 February 2018}} He remained in that role until Prime Time Sports ended in October 2019, before moving on to the newly created afternoon show Writers Bloc.

Deitsch has a particular interest in sports media, a beat that he launched at Sports Illustrated and continues to cover at The Athletic.{{Cite web|url=https://theathletic.com/author/richard-deitsch/|title = Richard Deitsch}} It is also the subject of his weekly podcast, Sports Media with Richard Deitsch, launched March 30, 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.radio.com/podcasts/sports-media-with-richard-deitsch-20713|title = Sports Media with Richard Deitsch|date = 5 March 2021}}