LowcoSports founder aims to expand programming, reach younger viewers and make local government easier to understand
By Delayna Earley
The Island News
Justin Jarrett, a longtime local sports journalist and founder of LowcoSports, has been hired to lead Beaufort County’s broadcast department, bringing plans to expand its audience and help residents better understand their government.
Beaufort County TV announced his appointment as broadcast services director in an Oct. 1 Facebook post. The position oversees the county’s broadcasting and multimedia operations, including live and recorded government meetings, public hearings and special events.
Jarrett said his early priorities include strengthening BCTV’s branding, social media presence and programming while building relationships with the municipalities, schools and other organizations it serves.
“So we really want to expand our visibility,” he said.
At the center of that work is access to local government. Broadcasting meetings allows residents to follow proceedings even when they cannot attend in person, he said.
“And it’s just a way to break down that barrier and give people an opportunity to engage in their local government,” Jarrett said.
He also wants to help viewers understand what they are watching.
Government meetings can overwhelm newcomers with unfamiliar language and procedures, Jarrett said. He sees opportunities for programming that explains county business in everyday terms, including possible longer podcasts in which officials can discuss issues and explain their positions.
“But if they don’t really understand what’s going on, they’re not going to step up and say something,” he said.
Asked about transparency, Jarrett said he would work closely with county Public Information Officer Hannah Nichols. He described making government proceedings accessible as a central responsibility of BCTV and said clearer explanations could help residents participate more effectively.
That approach draws on a career spanning newspapers, college athletics, independent media and education.
A 2004 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Jarrett moved to the Lowcountry in 2005 to work at The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette. He spent six years there, eventually becoming sports editor.
He joined the University of South Carolina Beaufort in 2011 as its first sports information director and also took on athletics marketing. The work pushed him to develop skills in photography, video, streaming and broadcasting, he said.
Jarrett launched LowcoSports in June 2017, initially covering local sports while still working at USCB before leaving to build the business. He became the editor of The Island News in 2018, and has handled sports coverage for the newspaper since resigning as editor in 2019.
More recently, he taught media technology at Hardeeville High School and then became a career development facilitator, helping students explore careers and prepare for work.
His classroom experience reinforced the importance of communicating with people who have different levels of reading ability and familiarity with a subject, he said.
“I am a journalist through and through,” Jarrett said.
At BCTV, he hopes to attract younger viewers and encourage greater civic engagement through programming that reaches them on the platforms they use.
He also sees room for more original local shows. Ideas under discussion include children’s programming and shows about food or homes, though he said the team still needs to work through how to produce them.
“We want people to flip over there to see other shows as well,” he said.
Jarrett praised the staff’s creativity and ability to work together. He described his role as helping set a direction and giving employees room to develop their ideas.
He also acknowledged the challenges of competing for attention in a crowded media environment and making changes within government. Maintaining meeting coverage while finding time for additional programming will require patience and more efficient workflows, he said.
Residents can watch BCTV through its website and YouTube, as well as local cable systems and streaming options, including Roku and Amazon Fire TV, Jarrett said. Live and on-demand programming is available through the county’s BCTV webpage.
For Jarrett, expanding that reach starts with understanding how residents get their information.
“We need to find out where you are and how we can get it to you,” he said.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.