Mike Wise Joins WUSA As Digital Columnist

WUSA, Tegna’s CBS affiliate in Washington, today hired Mike Wise, a sports columnist, feature writer and sports TV expert, has joined the news team as a digital journalist and on-air contributor.

Wise comes to WUSA from ESPN’s Undefeated, a digital venture covering the intersection of sports, race and culture.

“Mike brings his own distinct perspective to sports here in Washington, and other important issues we face in our community,” said PJ O’Keefe, WUSA content director,. “His ability to engage in conversations on culture, combined with his deep local roots, support our mission to inform and inspire, and to make a positive impact.”

Wise is known for his expertise on sports, passion for storytelling and ability to clearly report on complicated issues. From 2004 to 2014 he was a columnist at the Washington Post sports page with Michael Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser, Sally Jenkins and Thomas Boswell. Before coming to D.C., he spent 10 years at The New York Times, primarily covering the NBA, the Knicks and the Olympics.

From 2009 to 2012, he hosted The Mike Wise Show on WJFK-FM Washington and has regularly appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox Sports and ESPN’s Outside the Lines. He has covered 20 of the past 23 NBA Finals, the World Series, Super Bowls, and seven Olympic Games.

Wise has co-authored two books, including Shaquille O’Neal’s best-selling 2001 autobiography Shaq Talks Back and 1999’s Just Ballin’ — The Chaotic Rise of the New York Knicks with Frank Isola. He is currently writing a biography on 1964 Olympic 10,000-meter gold medalist Billy Mills.

Named among the nation’s top sports columnists annually by the Associated Press Sports Editors, his profiles delving into the traumatic childhoods of Gilbert Arenas in 2006 and Donald Brashear in 2009 both won the APSE’s Best Feature Writing award. He is a long-time advocate of changing the name of the Washington DC NFL team and has written extensively about social issues over the past decade as a Post columnist.

Wise was born in Northern California, grew up in Hawaii and graduated with a BA in journalism from Fresno State University.