Who is Jane Slater? NFL reporter bashed online over heated debate on unpaid internships

On Monday, NFL reporter Jane Slater became the talk of the town on social media after advertising an unpaid “opportunity” for broadcast journalism students on Twitter. The 40-year-old, however, was furious at the backlash over the intern ad, branding commenters 'rotten' for pointing out that unpaid positions posed a serious barrier for people from a less privileged background. Slater, by her own admission, claimed that she did come from a wealthy family, but insisted that those who want to work in competitive fields like journalism had to hustle to make a name for themselves, even if it meant taking unpaid work for experience. This has made many ask - Who is Jane Slater?

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Who is Jane Slater? The Jane Slater unpaid internship Twitter battle

NFL reporter Jane Slater was born in Rowlett, Texas and attended Rowlett High School before graduating from the University of Texas in 2004, double majoring in Journalism and Government. Slater then worked for ESPN as an anchor and sideline reporter for the Longhorn Network prior to joining NFL Network in 2016.

She also worked on the College World Series and college football bowl games for ESPN and the SEC Network. She spent eight years covering news before turning her attention to covering sports which included co-hosting a radio talk show "Elf and Slater" for a year. She is currently working as a sideline reporter for CBS Sports, covering the Dallas Cowboys

Earlier on Monday, Slater took to Twitter to advertise an 'unpaid internship' to her 162.5k followers. While the responses to her tweet were mixed; some seizing the opportunity to work with a well-known sideline reporter and cover top stories, others noted that they were unable to work for free, calling unpaid internships 'unethical'. 

Slater was bashed on social media and later revealed that she was 'amazed' at the replies she received. She swiftly became defensive and wrote that she had 'three unpaid internships in school, double majored and had a job.'

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However, that only sparked netizens to point out Slater's family wealth meant she had a safety net many could only dream of. The Jane Slater grandfather story involves him being the former president of Wolf Brand Chili. One wrote, "Jane Slater's family made their wealth in the food manufacturing business. She likely had financial backing keeping her afloat when she wasn't being paid during her internship" Another added, "Why am I not surprised to see people from rich family backgrounds advertising unpaid internships, I mean Jane Slater practically didn't even have to work."

The American journalist later posted a more conciliatory message to perhaps end the Jane Slater unpaid internship Twitter debate, explaining she was trying to forward an opportunity to help college students and it wasn't for her own team. She then hit back at the comments about those who aimed digs at her family wealth and wrote, "To the people shaming me for my hardworking grandfather and parents who instilled a similar work ethic to achieve success, you are rotten. You have no idea about my childhood or my family but it’s not even close to the picture you all paint."

Slater also retweeted replies that supported her and continued to defend her post. She later clarified that her intentions were to 'help' an organization and that "nobody should ever work for free unless they can gain work experience that can help them in the future."

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Image Credits - Jane Slater Instagram