School of Journalism & Media Students Cover the 2024 Paralympic Games
During the summer of 2024, nine School of Journalism and Media students participated in the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain real-world experience as they covered the Paralympic Games for the USA TODAY Network.
Overview
Led by Professor Erin Whiteside, the School of Journalism and Media sent nine students to Paris, France, to cover the 2024 Paralympic Games.
Through a partnership with the USA TODAY Network, students were credentialed under the national media outlet and their work appeared online and in newspapers throughout the network.
The USA TODAY Network reaches more than three million people per day. This opportunity allowed students to showcase their work to a national audience, and facilitate connections with industry professionals representing the biggest news and sports outlets in the world.
Students joined more than 3,000 other sports journalists from around the world to cover the international sporting event. In less than a week, students wrote 27 articles, photographed numerous events, and produced more than fifteen videos for social media as part of their on-the-ground coverage of the Games.
“We were so impressed with the students’ coverage of the Paralympic Games for the USA TODAY Network, which included everything from profiles on top American athletes to analysis of the biggest moments of the opening ceremony and news coverage after historic performances on the field of play,” Executive Editor and Vice President of USA TODAY Sports Roxanna Scott said. “The storytelling was rich with detail from Paris and the reporting gave readers a true appreciation for the athletes as people.”
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.
We were so impressed with the students’ coverage of the Paralympic Games for the USA TODAY Network, which included everything from profiles on top American athletes to analysis of the biggest moments of the opening ceremony and news coverage after historic performances on the field of play. The storytelling was rich with detail from Paris and the reporting gave readers a true appreciation for the athletes as people.”
Roxanna Scott
Executive Editor and Vice President of USA TODAY Sports
Meet the Paralympics Coverage Team
Lillian Van Alsburg
Social Media Producer
Lillian Van Alsburg is a junior School of Journalism and Media major from Arvada, Colorado. Since 2021, Lillian has worked as a production assistant for VFL Films, a broadcasting and production company for the Tennessee athletics department. She is also the owner of Lilly Van Alsburg Photography.
Avery Bane
Photojournalist
Avery Bane is a junior School of Journalism and Media major from Shreveport, Louisiana.
Prior to the Games, Avery completed a summer internship with Inter Miami CF, where she covered a variety of events, such as Inter Miami academy matches, matches, and community events. In addition, she helped sort photos for the team’s archival website.
Since August 2022, she has worked for the university’s athletic department through Vol Photos, which covers all the athletic events at UT. Bane aspires to be a photographer for a sports team after she graduates, preferably for Major League Soccer (MLS).
Ryan Beatty
Photojournalist
Ryan Beatty is a sophomore School of Journalism and Media major from Eads, Tennessee. Prior to the Games, Ryan interned for the USA Baseball National Team Championships in Phoenix, Arizona. For four weeks, he was tasked with covering sixty-four teams at the championships, gathering images for social media and online. He covered pool play all the way down to bronze and gold games.
He has also worked as a freelance photographer for the Memphis Redbirds (April 2022 – August 2024). Since 2023, he has worked as a student photographer for the Tennessee athletic department covering Vol sports and also works as a part-time photographer for the Tennessee Hockey Club.
Kylia Berry
Multimedia Journalist
Kylia Berry is a senior School of Journalism and Media major from Seymour, Tennessee. Prior to the Games, Berry interned as a multimedia reporter for WVLT where she produced news packages for the television station’s evening broadcasts and wrote web stories. She also has experience working with The Daily Beacon and The Volunteer Channel, serving as the managing editor for the latter starting in August 2024.
Griffin Hadley
Social Media Producer
Griffin Hadley is a senior School of Journalism and Media major from Carmel, Indiana. Since June 2024, Hadley has served as an audio intern for Omaha Productions where his duties include helping with the production of different digital sports shows and podcasts as well as editing clips for social media. He also serves as the sport director for WUTK Rock Solid Sports and is a member of the Vol swim and dive team.
Gabriel Jackson
Sports Writer
Gabriel Jackson is a junior School of Journalism and Media major from Dyersburg, Tennessee. Jackson has worked part-time as a sports reporter for the Dyersburg News State Gazette since August 2021. He also joined Tennessee athletics in July 2022 as a sports writer where he covers various Vols sports. He also completed a sports reporter internship with WVLT during the spring of 2024.
Caleb Jarreau
Sports Writer
Caleb Jarreau is a junior School of Journalism and Media major from Knoxville, Tennessee.Jarreau currently serves as the sports editor The Daily Beacon after starting sports reporting with the paper in August 2022. He also is a stringer for The Daily Times assisting with coverage of the Tennessee women’s basketball team and freelance writer covering East Tennessee high school sports for 5starpreps.
Catherine Ligon
Multimedia Journalist
Catherine Ligon is a senior at the School of Journalism and Media major from Franklin, Tennessee.
Ligon currently works as a producing crew member for VFL Films, assisting with the live broadcasting and graphics generation for Tennessee football, baseball, softball, and other sports.
Lukas Vysniauskas
Social Media Producer
Lukas Vysniauskas is a senior at the School of Journalism and Media from Lakeland, Tennessee. Throughout college, Lukas has worked as a video production intern for various companies including VFL Films, Loch & Key Productions and Message in a Bottle Productions. He also was a former video production assistant and editor with The Volunteer Channel.
Erin Whiteside
Professor, Project Lead
Erin Whiteside is a professor and graduate program coordinator for the School of Journalism and Media.
Before entering academia, Dr. Whiteside worked for Major League Baseball in New York City, where she edited and wrote for a variety of publications, including the World Series program, All-Star Game program, Little League Magazine and Major League Baseball en Español. Following her time at MLB, she worked in communications for the Penn State athletic department, where she oversaw communication for the women’s basketball team while also assisting with football and contributing to the development and re-launch of the athletics website.
Nick Geidner
Professor
Nick Geidner is a professor at the School of Journalism and Media. He also serves as director of The Media Center at the College of Communication and Information.
Aman Misra
Social Media Producer
Aman Misra is a doctoral candidate at the College of Communication and Information.
His doctoral research focuses specifically on media perception of sports for persons with disabilities and public memory in sport. His dissertation proposes combining both media perception of disability sport and public memory to examine anniversary coverage of men’s professional golf in the United States.
Prior to academia, he worked for ESPN-India, the Indian Express, and The Telegraph.
It was absolutely incredible. The best week-and-a-half of my life. Without Tennessee’s support we wouldn’t have been able to do this, and I am grateful to everybody in the journalism school for giving us this amazing opportunity.”
– Sophmore Ryan Beatty
Behind-the-Scenes Stories
Proud Mom
Senior Catherine Ligon’s mother is her daughter’s biggest supporter so when she learned she was going to be in Paris for the 20204 Paralympic Games she was cheering on from stateside. One day in Auto Zone she was telling a stranger all about her daughter’s recent USA TODAY story on Paralympian Brittni Mason and how she was reporting on the Games live from Paris. The stranger thought the story was familiar only to discover she had just read Ligon’s article that morning.
“So, it was just a really funny moment,” Ligon said. “I know the lady from AutoZone read my story, but there are also thousands that have read it, which is crazy to think about. It’s just really cool and I’m just really grateful.”
Superior Experience
Sophomore Ryan Beatty recalls touring another major SEC university during his senior year of high school and being told about how they planned to send students to cover the Paralympics. Beatty ultimately decided to become a Volunteer, unaware at the time the School of Journalism and Media also planned to cover the Games.
“It was God putting it in my hands,” Beatty said. “I couldn’t do it at one school but got an even better opportunity at another. What I really loved about our USA TODAY partnership was that it was very relaxed, and we were able to create a lot of cool content that not only grew their brand but promoted us as well.”
Full Circle
Senior Griffin Hadley was first exposed to the sport of goalball while visiting the Philippines with the VOLeaders Academy at University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
A year later, the School of Journalism and Media major and Tennessee Vol swimmer would be in Paris at the 2024 Paralympic Games producing an explainer video for the USA TODAY Network to introduce others to this unique and possible “new favorite” sport.
“In the middle of a trip where I was fully immersed in adaptive sports, learning how sport can change lives, I figured out that I would be going to the Paralympics,” Hadley said. “So, I was able to learn about adaptive sports in two different places. It was just a very full circle moment when I ended up going to the Paralympics.”
Increasing Visibility
One of Professor Erin Whiteside’s goals on the trip was to educate audiences about the 2024 Paralympic Games and to tell stories that would show people why they should follow the Games. She said it is not an overstatement to say the students helped fill a news hole and bring more visibility to the Paralympics in the U.S. than ever before.
“To provide this kind of visibility to the Paralympics means we were also very much smashing stereotypes and helping audiences think about disability in new ways,” Whiteside said. “It’s the thing I am most proud of from this trip. I hope one learning outcome from this opportunity among our students is realizing the role they play in generating interest in various athletes and sports.”
Covering the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris as a freelance multimedia journalist for USA TODAY Sports Media Group was an experience of a lifetime. From interviewing gold medal-winning archer Matt Stutzman and numerous other Paralympic athletes and engaging with the French community, I return to Rocky Top as a better MMJ. I am incredibly grateful to the UT School of Journalism & Media for allowing us to cover the Paralympics.”
Kylia Berry
Senior Journalism and Media student
Featured Paralympics Coverage
In less than a week, students wrote twenty-seven articles, photographed numerous events, and produced more than fifteen videos for social media as part of their on-the-ground coverage of the Games.
Here are a few of those stories.
Gold Medalist Taught Himself Archery
When para athlete Matthew Stutzman first wanted to learn archery, he couldn’t find a guide online to show him, so he taught himself. Stutzman won his first gold medal at the Paralympics, having previously won silver in 2012.
Using a Platform to Send a Message
Two-time Paralympian and medalist Ezra Frech is leading by example.
“I want to not only normalize disability but show what is possible with disabilities,” he explains.
Why should you watch the Paralympics?
In their own words, para athletes shared what makes the Games special.
Brittni Mason is chasing gold
Even though Mason was born with Erb’s Palsy in her left arm, a form of brachial plexus that limits the arm’s range of motion, she never thought that disability was included in the classifications of the Paralympics.
The USA TODAY Network’s platform also allowed us to significantly increase the amount of coverage in the U.S. on the Paralympics in general. It’s not an overstatement to say that our students helped fill a news hole and bring more visibility to the Paralympics in the U.S. than ever before.”
Professor Erin Whiteside
School of Journalism and Media
Theory to Practice: Growing Adaptive Sports Coverage
Senior Griffin Hadley was first exposed to the sport of goalball while visiting the Philippines with the VOLeaders Academy at University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
A year later, the School of Journalism and Media major and Tennessee Vol swimmer would be in Paris at the 2024 Paralympic Games producing an explainer video for the USA TODAY Network to introduce others to this unique and possible “new favorite” sport.
“In the middle of a trip where I was fully immersed in adaptive sports, learning how sport can change lives, I figured out that I would be going to the Paralympics,” Hadley said. “So I was able to learn about adaptive sports in two different places. It was just a very full circle moment when I ended up going to the Paralympics.”
Through a partnership with USA TODAY, nine students from the School of Journalism and Media reported on the Games for the national media outlet. Accompanying them were the School of Journalism and Media professors Erin Whiteside, Nick Geidner, and CCI doctoral student Aman Misra.
In preparation, the students completed a course during the summer about the competition and learned more about adaptive sports to prepare them to work with the athletes. For many of the students, it was their first time working with and covering adaptive sports and the athletes.
“The students really captured the theme of inclusivity in their stories, both in written text and in social video,” said Executive Editor and Vice President of USA TODAY Sports Roxanna Scott. “For example, they created smart explainers about sports like goalball, which is not a sport that fans might come across outside the Paralympics.”
Paralympics Coverage News
- Students Get Hands-on Experience Covering Adaptive Sports at the 2024 Paralympics
- ‘Once-In-A-Lifetime’: Students Report on the 2024 Paralympic Games For USA TODAY
- Student Documenting Triathlete’s Journey to the 2024 Paralympic Games
- Students Cover 2024 US Paralympic Track and Field Team Trials for USA TODAY
- Students Traveling to Paris to Cover the 2024 Paralympics for the USA TODAY Network
About the School of Journalism and Media
In the School of Journalism and Media, students are empowered to pursue the journalistic and creative interests that best align with their specific career goals. Areas of study offered through the major include:
Beyond the classroom, students can grow their craft through hands-on learning experiences through partnerships like the one with USA TODAY to cover the Paralympic Games, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Tennessee Athletics. Students also get hands-on experience through The Media Center, competitive internships at local and national media companies, study abroad programs, and annual professional development trips.
About the College of Communication and Information
The College of Communication and Information offers five undergraduate majors and ten minors, each supported by quality curriculum in the classroom and hands-on opportunities outside of it. The college also offers graduate programs and certificates that provide a strong foundation for students taking their next career step.