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UM SoC students cover Special Olympics in Idaho
Photo by: Andrea Ballocchi
Special Olympics athletes and Miami law enforcement officers carry the Special Olympic Torch over MacArthur Causeway in Miami Beach.
By Jun Zhu
Thirty-two University of Miami students are involved in a multimedia project to showcase the performance of Special Olympics athletes during the World Winter Games, in Idaho in February.
The 2009 World Winter Games Webcasting Project, launched by UM School of Communication and sponsored by Special Olympics, will assemble an international team of 150 students to travel to Idaho and provide video and photojournalistic coverage of athletes and events of the Games, including 20 students from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, three students from Fudan University in China and two students from Universidad de los Andes in Chile. Professionals from mainstream media, such as The New York Times, will also be on hand to coach the students.
Coverage will focus on three local points in Idaho -- Boise, Sun Valley and McCall – and include more than 2,500 athletes from more than 100 countries in seven winter sports: Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Figure Skating, Floor Hockey, Snowboarding, Snowshoeing and Speed Skating.
From Feb. 5 to 15, teams of student volunteers will be assigned to gather video clips of every athlete in each of the events, produce documentary stories, photos, video galleries and news broadcast feeds on a daily basis during the games.
An interactive Web site will also be built and launched as a stage for all the journalistic coverage. To celebrate the athletic skills, talents and gifts of people with intellectual disabilities, everyone with an Internet connection will have a chance to get athletes’ updates, latest news and daily highlights and search and watch and download clips related to every athlete.
Rich Beckman, executive producer of the project and UM Knight Chair in Visual Journalism, said this coverage is a unique opportunity for students to work with other top journalism schools and media professionals.
“The Special Olympics World Games in Idaho will provide a great laboratory for our students to test their skills under deadline conditions while also volunteering to help the athletes and families of Special Olympics,” said Beckman, who has been working with Special Olympics for more than 20 years.
UM students are looking forward to the experience.
“To cover an event this great is a tremendous opportunity for anyone, especially a student,” said Matt Byrnes, a graduate student and new media designer and developer with the Knight Center for International Media. “This event is extremely worthwhile for the Special Olympic athletes and us," he said.
Beckman said other three faculty members at School of Communication will be joining him in the project. Dean Sam L Grogg will produce the coverage of the Opening Ceremonies. Kim Grinfeder and Jim Virga, visual Journalism professors, will be photo and multimedia coaches throughout the Games.
Posted on January 28, 2009
