News Release

For a photo of the Special Olympics opening ceremonies, http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/releases/specialolympicsopening.jpg.
Cutline: The opening ceremonies of the Special Olympics in Shanghai, China, where UNC journalism students and faculty are giving groundbreaking multimedia coverage to the games. Photo credit: Pam Chen

Journalism students, faculty providing multimedia coverage for Special Olympics

A team of 18 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill journalism students and faculty are giving each athlete a moment in the spotlight of this year’s Special Olympics World Games, which began in China Tuesday (Oct. 2) and runs through Oct. 11.

Fifteen UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication students and three of the school’s faculty have joined a team of Chinese students to provide online coverage of the games. Seven journalists and media professionals from The Washington Post, MediaStorm of New York, Durham-based Horizon Video, The News & Observer of Raleigh, UNC’s Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and the journalism school are acting as the students’ coaches and advisers on the project.

Last spring, four classes of UNC journalism students helped create stories about Special Olympic athletes training for the games throughout the world, and they animated informational graphics of each of the Olympic sports, illustrations of Chinese monuments and an interactive multimedia map of China. Five students from Shanghai’s Fudan University attended classes taught by James L. Knight Professor Richard Beckman and assistant professor Albert Cairo, both faculty members in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, last spring.

The students posted that material on a Web site (www.specialolympicslive.org) that also features a page complete with a short bio, photo and video clip for each of the more than 7,000 athletes participating in the worldwide event. Each of the athlete pages will feature that athlete’s performance in events, and the opening and closing ceremonies. By the end of the games, students will have posted tens of thousands of video clips to the site.

Carolina students are the only U.S. students among the nearly 300 students, coaches and faculty working on the project. Also represented are Fudan University, Shanghai University, Shanghai International Studies University and East China Normal University.

Nearly 7,500 athletes will compete in the games, drawing 40,000 volunteers, 3,500 event officials and thousands of families, volunteers, spectators and journalists from around the world.

China also will host the 2008 Olympic Games. It will become the first country to host the Special Olympics World Games, Olympic Games and Paralympic Games — all within the span of just 12 months.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication also recently announced a partnership with the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games to send students to Beijing to assist the in-house media relations department in providing coverage of the 2008 Olympic Summer Games.

Special Olympics Live site: www.specialolympicslive.org

School of Journalism and Mass Communication contact: Kyle York, (919) 966-3323 or sky@unc.edu
News Services contact: Lisa Katz, (919) 962-2093 or lisa_katz@unc.edu