Journalism school sends students to Paris Olympics

This summer, Charlie Tuggle, a professor in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media, will organize a once-in-a-lifetime experience for 25 students and recent graduates. The group will provide coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics for news outlets across North Carolina and the world.

Tuggle’s partnership with the International Olympic Committee began in 2007, when he escorted 31 Carolina students to report on the Beijing Olympics. It continued through the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, covered by 29 students. After COVID-19 prevented attendance at the postponed 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, Tuggle supervised a group of six students reporting on the competition remotely from Chapel Hill.

Here’s what Tuggle had to say about the partnership.

How did the partnership between UNC Hussman and the IOC begin?

The committee approached us through Xinshu Zhao, a former Hussman professor who was well respected in China. They were looking for English-speaking reporters to help cover the Games for the Olympic News Service, and UNC was one of 10 universities that sent students to assist.

Our students were working for ONS as “flash quote” reporters. Right after an event is over, the athletes speak to the media. NBC was in first position, and ONS was second. Our students were in second position to ask questions of some of these major world athletes, get flash quotes and distribute them to worldwide media.

How has the partnership continued 16 years later?

Beijing is where we made ourselves known to ONS. They didn’t need English-speaking volunteers in London, but they needed them again in Rio. I took 25 students there to work for ONS again, and four others reported back for North Carolina media.

This year, they’ve decided to do away with the flash quote reporters, so we’re using a different model. Five students will be hired by ONS as junior reporters. The other 20 will report for various news organizations throughout North Carolina and beyond.

In 2016, we were one of only two universities to partner with ONS. This year, we are the only one. I think they were impressed with our students’ work over the years.

How can we follow our students’ reporting from the Games?

Their work will appear in every daily newspaper and NBC station in the state. We’ll also be working for two radio networks, Curtis Media and Beasley Media. Beasley Media’s reach includes North Carolina but also extends throughout the country. At least two students are assigned to each of our partners, coordinating with them to provide the reporting they need.

How is this experience at the Olympics valuable for these students?

The Olympics is arguably the biggest sporting event in the world, and there’s something extra special about Paris. It’s an experience that it would be hard to match in any other way and will help launch these students’ careers. When our students get opportunities like this, they tend to lead to other opportunities.

These groups also tend to really bond. The Rio group, for example, continues to stay in touch with each other. It winds up being a seminal moment in their young lives.

What does it mean to you to give students this opportunity?

I have always loved the Olympics. I’m from a small town in central Florida, yet I’ve been to three Olympic Games. I’ve seen Simone Biles win a gold medal, Usain Bolt shatter the world record in the 100-meter and other incredible moments. It’s fantastic to share that experience with the students and to later hear that this was a point in their life that made a difference for them professionally.