SPEAKERS
2008 Shooting Sports Summit
The Premier Forum Exclusively
for Leaders of the Shooting Sports Industry
James L. Shepherd
 James L. Shepherd |
As editor and publisher of The Outdoor Wire, The Fishing Wire and The Shooting Wire, Jim Shepherd has used 30 years of news and communication experience to turn an idea into a powerful collection of "must-read" daily news services. Today, Jim provides breaking outdoor information, podcasts and RSS-syndicated news features to thousands of daily subscribers -- including a variety of publications and electronic news services across the United States.
Jim's news career began in 1974 and includes senior news executive roles in some of the world's most influential news services. A founding member of CNN, Jim created and produced many of CNN's initial programming successes ("Your Money," "Pinnacle," "Inside Business") in addition to a number of international newsgathering "firsts." At PBS's "Nightly Business Report," Jim created international news bureaus and received numerous international awards for journalistic excellence. As news director of Financial News Network (now CNBC), Jim created the network's highly successful primetime programming lineup and continued to score a variety of international news beats, including having the first American correspondents and reports covering the fall of the Berlin Wall and the only on-the-scene reporting of the Exxon Valdez disaster.
Jim created and hosted "Tee2Green: The Golf Show", America's longest-running golf talk radio show (now available on Sirius Satellite Network), and turned his love of golf and television into a project for which he created the logotype, initial programming concepts and overall structures. In 2006, Jim's "idea" -- The Golf Channel -- celebrated its 10th anniversary. Simultaneously, Jim's production company was collecting awards for television commercials and informational programming for a client list that includes Nike, Ben Hogan Golf Company, Spalding Sports, Oldsmobile/GM, Aaron's, SIGARMS, Smith & Wesson and others.
Jim lives in Birmingham, Ala., with his wife, Leigh. He enjoys writing, practical shooting, photography and, time permitting, golf, fishing and hunting as well as the occasional television project "just to keep his eye sharp." This year, the Outdoor, Shooting and Fishing Wires were selected as the Media of the Year by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission -- the only non-Arizona media to ever receive the award.