Meet Beth Spicer
By Baylor McLelland

Through journalism, reporters can tell local stories that may not be told otherwise. Whether the story is a sports team going the extra mile or a local criminal case finding closure years later, it can bring insight that may not have been known before. For the past two years, Beth Spicer has been publishing stories like this through sports photography with TXK Sports and news stories with RazorbackTV.

“Growing up with my dad, we always had sports on the TV,” Beth explained. “We always watched baseball, on TV or in person. I grew up going to the Texas Rangers games every year.” Her father even has Rangers tickets from the days Beth and her younger sister, Lily, were born, along with several other pieces of sports memorabilia, including NASCAR and hockey items.

As his interest surrounded Beth at a young age, it inspired a similar passion for sports in her. However, her interest doesn’t come from playing any of the games but broadcasting them. Beth was a three-year member of Arkansas High School’s RazorbackTV program, and throughout her senior year, she was a photographer for TXK Sports.

Beth and her adviser, Cortez Akins, on Senior Night. submitted photo.

“I wanted to capture the emotion I felt during football season,” Beth said. “I could see people capturing it through photography and videos, and I’ve had an interest in working in sports media since my sophomore year.” She joined RazorbackTV to pursue this dream. As a 10th grader, Beth first worked running cameras during soccer season livestreams and later became an integral part of the streaming process for RazorbackTV as their technical director, who makes sure the livestream remains up and running despite any technical setbacks that arise. During her junior year, Beth would expand her role, continuing to capture sports moments while also reporting on local stories throughout the community.

Beth’s first non-sports story was a report on the True Crime Texarkana podcast (produced by the Texarkana Gazette) in 2023. She he interviewed host Mallory Wyatt about a case that, at the time, had been unsolved for over 40 years. However, as Beth finished her story, the case was finally closed. Beth said that the story is her favorite to-date.

Another story she covered was at the beginning of her senior year, about the Texarkana Rhinos baseball team. She wrote about the sense of community the team has been able to build, with one player coming all the way from the Philippines. That player’s family even flew to the U.S. to watch him play with the team.

Beth’s love of sports began when she got to bring out the game ball at a Rangers’ game. submitted photo.

Through covering these local stories, Beth gained and provided new insight on these topics that wouldn’t have been found without her budding career in journalism.

After working with RazorbackTV as a reporter, a new position as a photographer opened up midway through her junior year, which she took. Then, after one of TXKSport’s photographers left for college, Beth took on the job, capturing photos at Arkansas High. Whether shooting wrestling, football, soccer, or baseball, Beth was there. During her cramped schedule this past spring, Beth sometimes found herself taking photos for soccer, baseball, and softball all in the same night. During football season, Beth was in charge of capturing photos of the main game as well as the halftime show performances from both the band and Arkansas High School’s Redline dance team. She performed these duties at home and at away games, which were sometimes up to four hours away.

Now, with Beth preparing for her first year of college, she uses what she’s learned about busyness and balance to prepare for her future. In August, Beth will begin attending the University of North Texas, where she will pursue further journalism education.

“I never thought just streaming some soccer games would turn into being a sports photographer for RazorbackTV and TXKSports,” Beth said. “Though I didn’t get into that class until late sophomore year, I can’t imagine a better program to leave and watch grow from afar.”

Less than three years ago, Beth was a shy reporter with dreams of going into professional sports journalism; she is now gearing up to pursue exactly that. She encourages others to follow her example and explore journalism. “People have so much to say,” she explained. “There’s so much that happens that you would never know if you don’t ask, and to just be able to dig deep into people’s lives and the stuff that they do is so cool.”

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