Preparing for a career requires taking the time to gain and practice skills that you will use in your future profession. And for students studying sports media and journalism, what better place is there to hone their craft than the biggest sporting event in the world?
This summer, eighteen students from Brigham Young University’s School of Communications will have the learning experience of a lifetime as they travel to Paris, France for the Global Sports Media study abroad program, administered through the Kennedy Center for International Studies; from 30 July to 11 August, they’ll gain real-world experience in their chosen fields as they report on the Summer 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
A Once-in-a-lifetime Program
The program is the brainchild of BYU journalism professor Dr. Miles Romney, who envisioned a chance for journalism students to learn in a one-of-a-kind way. His original plan was to take a group of students to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, but the global COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to that; even when the Games were moved to 2021, travel was still limited and difficult. So Dr. Romney and his co-director, journalism professor Dr. Kris Boyle, set their sights on the 2024 Paris Olympics instead.
The eighteen participants are largely journalism and sports media majors; many are seniors using this program as their capstone experience. While all share an interest in sports media, they have a wide variety of specialties. “The focus is primarily storytelling and content creation,” says Dr. Boyle. “We have students doing writing; we have students who will be doing photography and video and creating content for social media platforms. And we have a group of students doing more of a broadcast-style of content; we call it ‘social cast’ because it's not airing on traditional, over-the-air television, but it's something we'll share through social media.”
The program’s reporting will focus on the Olympics through a specific lens: athletes who have a connection to BYU and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They’ll also be writing cultural pieces about Paris, general pieces about the Olympics, and profiles of people working in public relations for the Church relating to the Olympics.
Content will be published on the Daily Universe's website and social media accounts, with social media takeovers planned on Kennedy Center and BYU accounts as well. In addition, Dr. Boyle says that local media outlets in Utah have expressed interest in using some of the articles and posts; for media organizations that aren’t planning to send anyone to the Olympics, the BYU program is a source of content that is specifically of interest to people in Utah. This gives students a unique opportunity to have their work seen outside a BYU audience, says Dr. Boyle: “I told the students, ‘This is really a once-in-a-lifetime chance, where you're going to have a lot of people interested in what you're creating, so make it the very best you can. Be proud of what you're creating; make it something that can be shareable to audiences outside what we're doing, because that's probably what will happen. You'll have others who want your story; they're going to want to publish your content on their sites on their social media platforms. So let's create the best content.’”
For Jocelyn Moody, a senior majoring in sports journalism, this program is the culmination of years of hoping and planning. She first heard about the possibility of the Tokyo Olympics program during her freshman year at BYU, in 2019. “I did the math and knew that with a mission, the timing would be perfect [for the Paris Olympics]. Coming back, I kept my eyes and ears open and bugged the heck out of Dr. Romney.”
Once Dr. Romney officially announced the Paris program, she knew she had to apply. “I love the Olympics,” she says. “One of my favorite things about sports is how it unites the world. I ended up deciding my major based off watching the World Cup in 2018, so I just had to go to the Olympics. It is the perfect opportunity to learn, get connections, and have an incredible time. My dream is to go to every major sporting event at least once in my life. So, it’s time for the Olympics!”
Creating the Experience
The program started with a prep course that ran through the month of July. That preparation, says program participant and sports journalism major Katrina Huhtala, has been vitally important. “We spent our time researching athletes, interviewing them as well as their coaches, buying tickets to Olympic events, and creating a schedule for our two-week trip in order to make the most of our time and cover all the events that we need to.”
Dr. Boyle says that an interesting aspect of the program is that they have no way of knowing exactly what will happen each day in Paris. Interviewed before they left for their trip, he said, “We don't know what that looks like yet. We're trying to build relationships and get the networking going now; we've got ideas of stories to do, but it's really going to be based on who they can get access to when they’re over there.” He added, “These students have been working really hard the last few weeks and months, trying to network with as many people as they can to create opportunities to go meet with them over there.”
To get ready for the Paris portion of the trip, the students were also required to write or create one piece per week, all of which can currently be seen on the Daily Universe website and social media accounts.
(Some of the social media work that Huhtala has already done can be seen here and here, while some of Moody’s athlete profiles can be read here and here.)
But the real fun started when they arrived in Paris on 30 July. Huhtala says, “This is my first time in Paris, so I am super excited to finally get to experience European culture. It’s going to be packed and busy with people around the world, and while it might be a little hectic, it’s going to be the experience of a lifetime. I’m especially excited to follow a few BYU current/alumni track athletes, including Courtney Wayment, Whittni Morgan, and James Corrigan. We’re so excited to see how they perform, and hopefully be able to interview some of them and their amazing coaches while we’re out there.”
Moody, who already did a Paris study abroad in 2022, is excited about returning to the city. “I am super excited to see these monuments cleaned, not under construction, and altered to arenas. I am attending a lot of events and am going to two beach volleyball matches right by the Eiffel Tower. That is going to be epic and Paris will never look like this again until the next time they host, so I am super excited about embracing the temporary changes and soaking in the atmosphere.”
Once they arrived in Paris, the article requirement jumped from one a week to one a day. This means eighteen pieces coming in every day, requiring a lot of work from Drs. Romney and Boyle, who will do the majority of the editing and post the articles on the website.
The students will be largely on their own as they research, conduct interviews, and take photos and videos across the city. In some cases, they’ll work together; for instance, someone interviewing an athlete might bring along a student specializing in photography so that they can get pictures for the article.
“Every day, we'll have a 9:00 AM meeting where we all get together and say, ‘Okay, who's doing what today?’” says Dr. Boyle. “We've got a structure internally set up where they're logging in the stories and things that they want to work on, or the pictures they’re putting together. We have that planning meeting at the beginning of every day, and they go out and they work and they come back. And we're there to help them as they put it together, and then as soon as we can get things published, they go out on the different platforms.”
Some of the stories are already planned out; for instance, they know they’ll want someone to write about it when former BYU basketball star Jimmer Fredette competes in 3x3 basketball. For other stories, students will pitch ideas—ideas that may not even occur to them until halfway through the program.
Because of that uncertainty and because of scheduling challenges, Dr. Boyle says, every day will be different—sometimes busier, sometimes more relaxed. “That’s the really the fun part of this for me. When we've done similar experiences where we just go out and find the stories, every day is unique and different; it requires the students to be on their toes and nimble and flexible.”
The students, he says, “are going to be expected to create their own experience. We're not handing everything to them; it's different from other study abroad programs where it's ‘Okay, we've got these planned activities.’ They're creating the experience. They’re going to make what they want out of this.”
But he’s confident the students will thrive. “These students are really excited. They're very passionate about it. They see the value in what we're doing, and that's important.”
Getting Creative
One thing that will make their work a little harder is that they won’t have media access to the events. Dr. Boyle explains, “There's a very small pool of media that get access to these events, and they’re usually sponsored by the IOC, maybe NBC, things like that.” That means that students can buy tickets and attend events—and many plan to—but “they can't just go into the venues and start shooting on their phones and then use that content. They're very particular about what gets used over there.”
This means that students have to get creative about how they get their content, Dr. Boyle says: “They’re going to have to be thinking about those kinds of things and recognizing we're not going to be there on a press row like you would be at any other kind of sporting event, covering it that way. We're just going to have to report on events after the fact and be creative with how we get access to people.”
Luckily, BYU students are already accustomed to working within limitations, he says. “We're used to that because with BYU being in the Big 12 this last year, there are very strict guidelines on what can and can't be shot by media entities, due to rights and things like that. So we're used to operating that way.”
Huhtala says, “As a photojournalist, I was a bit disappointed when I first learned that the Olympics don’t allow outside media to do photo/video inside the venues. While we can still stream/attend the events, write stories, and reshare the Olympic media, it’s going to be different from what I am used to doing at BYU (having a front row seat on the sideline with my camera!).” But she thinks it will ultimately help her improve: “I am going to need to be creative with my photography. This trip is going to help me become innovative in the ways in which I capture stories through photographs. Whether that be the emotions of the fans outside the venues, the unique Olympic architecture, the crowds on the streets, etc., I’m hoping this trip pushes me outside of my comfort zone and helps me to really look outside the box when it comes to storytelling through my camera.”
When it comes to writing about athletes, the students will have to arrange to meet them outside of the Olympic venues. This means that a lot is going to depend on networking. Much of the prep course was spent laying groundwork for that, and Dr. Boyle is confident that the work they’ve already done will open even more doors.
And that, he says, is something of a miracle. “The thing I love about these programs from a spiritual aspect is that we feel that this is a really valuable experience for the students, and so the Lord's hand is going to be involved in this. I'm pretty confident in that, that things will just come up organically—opportunities will come up for them to tell a story that we weren't anticipating and that's going to make a really good and impactful experience for them and for our audience. The Lord will be involved in some of this. That's sometimes the most valuable part of an experience, that they can look back and say, ‘We were directed to this and it came together in a way that we couldn’t have done on our own.’”
Influenced and Impacted
For the students involved, this trip is an important steppingstone to their future careers. “This program will help my resume stick out for sure,” says Moody. “All summer, I’ve been interviewing and have had informational interviews. Every time I mention this experience, they gawk. I am so excited to take advantage of the program and network. I know the Lord will place people in my path that I should meet, and I hope doors open for me.”
Dr. Boyle hopes the students will gain valuable skills and experiences. He says covering one of the most-covered events in the world will force them to think creatively: “One thing I'm hoping that they get is to learn how to tell a story in a very creative, eye-catching, impactful way, especially in an environment like this where there's going to be media from all over the world covering the same kinds of stories. So how are you going to do yours that's different? What is your audience interested in? How can you do it in a way that's different from other local entities that will be out covering all these BYU athletes? Helping the students gain those kinds of real-life experiences is important, because that's how it will be for them in the field—finding creative ways to make their content stand out above other content. That's the kind of skills I think they'll get professionally here.”
He also says that the program will help the student participants with job searches. “Being there will help them with networking and give them an opportunity to rub shoulders with other professionals in the field and learn from them; it will help them get the attention of these other outlets, and that may lead to other opportunities for these students as they graduate.” Students will also come back with a portfolio of published content, he notes, and “they can say, ‘I spent 10 days covering an international event and I had content that was seen by an audience all over the world.’ That's a pretty big deal for these students. And I don't have any doubt that some of these students, if not most of them, will land good starting jobs and other opportunities right out of the gate because of the experience they'll have here.”
Though the next week and a half will be “pretty crazy,” Dr. Boyle says, “I feel like it's going to be a life-changing experience for them in in different ways. That's what I'm looking forward to the most: for them to be influenced and impacted by the experiences we're having out there. As they do that, and as these life-changing experiences come along, it will be really cool to see what they learn and what they get from it.”