The school has partnered with the USA TODAY Network to cover the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games. Traveling to do so are: Professor Nick Geidner, Caleb Jarreau, Lukas Vysniauskas, Ryan Beatty, Griffin Hadley, Professor Erin Whiteside, Avery Bane, Catherine Ligon, Gabriel Jackson, Kylia Berry, Lillian Van Alsburg (not pictured) and Aman Misra (not pictured).
Catherine Ligon, a junior in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is excited about the opportunity to cover the 2024 Paralympic Games.
“Through this trip I hope to learn what covering an international sporting event would be like,” Ligon said. “This hands-on experience is truly once in a lifetime, and I know this will grow my ability as a writer and storyteller.”
She learned about the Paralympics in her recreation and sports management courses and can’t wait to experience the event live. Ligon is one of 12 faculty members and students in the School of Journalism and Media traveling to Paris this summer to cover the Paralympics.
The school has partnered with the USA TODAY Network to cover the games. Students will work alongside more than 3,000 sports media professionals from around the world covering the international sporting event for the network. Students will generate stories, photos and other content before and during the games.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity for our students to develop some real-word experience at one of the world’s most prestigious and recognizable sporting events,” said School of Journalism and Media Professor Erin Whiteside, who organized this partnership with the USA TODAY Network and will be accompanying the students on the trip.
The nine students are:
- Lillian Van Alsburg, Arvada, Colorado
- Avery Bane, Shreveport, Louisiana
- Ryan Beatty, Eads, Tennessee
- Kylia Berry, Seymour, Tennessee
- Griffin Hadley, Carmel, Indiana
- Gabriel Jackson, Dyersburg, Tennessee
- Caleb Jarreau, Knoxville, Tennessee
- Catherine Ligon, Franklin, Tennessee
- Lukas Vysniauskas, Lakeland, Tennessee
The College of Communication and Information provided funding to help cover the cost of sending students to Paris for the games. The school launched a VolStarter campaign, to raise additional funding for students’ meals, transportation, and incidental expenses while they are in Paris.
“This opportunity is an example of the best-in-class learning experiences that we provide our students in CCI,” said Joseph Mazer, dean of the College of Communication and Information. “We are committed to student success, and that commitment is evident in creating this partnership with the USA TODAY Network, which will shape our students’ understanding of media on a global stage.”
Students will complete a course in sports media and the Paralympics this summer as part of their preparation for the trip. They will learn about the Paralympics sports movement, conduct background research and reporting, and communicate with USA TODAY Network sports editors in preparation for the Paralympics.
“We are excited to partner with the University of Tennessee School of Journalism and Media to expand our coverage of the 2024 Paralympics for USA TODAY and across the USA TODAY Network,” said Executive Editor and Vice President of USA TODAY Sports Roxanna Scott. “We know the storytelling and news coverage provided by UT student journalists will engage our audience and provide deeper coverage of Paralympic sports.”
School of Journalism and Media junior Kylia Berry said she learned about the opportunity from doctoral candidate Aman Misra.She is eager to apply the knowledge and skills she has learned in classes, and while working for student media outlets such as Vol News and the The Daily Beacon,in a real-world setting.
“I hope to gain real-world experience in the industry by working alongside USA TODAY professionals while telling the stories of athletes competing for the gold,” Berry said. “Additionally, I hope to gain a better understanding of covering athletes with disabilities while breaking the barriers surrounding people with disabilities and providing the media coverage they deserve.”
Misra, who has experience working for ESPN-India, the Indian Express, and The Telegraph,will be traveling to Paris to help advise students.As a person with a hearing disability, Misra has training in covering sporting events for people with disabilities and conducts research on media perception of disability.
Misra said the Paralympics is one of the largest gatherings of people with physical disabilities in one place at a time and contributes to how the rest of the world perceives disability.
“This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will open doors for students at our journalism program to not just report on sport with disabilities but to also understand broader constructs of the worldwide disability movement,” Misra said. “They will hopefully use this platform to pitch more stories on disability sport and actively follow these athletes who participate in sport all year-round, rather than just once in four years, as has usually been the case for decades.”