J-School students blog from China
Students from the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism are having the experience of a lifetime.
Sixty of the school’s top undergraduate and graduate students have arrived in Beijing, China, where this summer they will serve as Olympic News Service volunteers during the 29th Summer Olympiad.
While rubbing elbows with the international press corps, Olympic athletes, coaches and spectators, the Mizzou-trained interns will collect quotes from participants, attend press conferences, write news briefs and take on other reporting duties for the ONS.
About 300 students from universities around the world are participating in the program, created through a partnership between Renmin University of China and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. Mizzou is well represented.
Before the games start, the students are studying Chinese life and culture—both inside and outside the classroom. Over the next eight weeks, read about their experiences in this special section of Mizzou Wire’s Live Wire blog.
Meet the bloggers
Laura Dotson is a graduate student studying magazine editing with an emphasis on online journalism. She will complete her master’s project in China, while also reporting on the gymnastics and trampoline competitions for the Olympic News Service. She plans to graduate in December and then return home to St. Louis, where she will become editor of Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s new community magazine, Innovate.
Beth Androuais, who is both French and American, holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism (newspaper design) and plans to complete her master’s degree in journalism (convergence) this fall. She grew up in Boston and lived in Eaubonne, France, for a year. Her family now lives in St. Louis. While volunteering for the Olympic News Service, she will interview gymnasts and their coaches and write press-release-style summaries. Her personal blog is bilingual.
Furqaan Sadiq is an avid swimmer and sailor who has lived in places including upstate New York and southeast Missouri. The senior newspaper journalism student will cover cycling at the Olympic Games. As a flash quote reporter, he will interview cyclists and write briefs for the Olympic News Service.
Allison Bennett is a senior newspaper journalism student. A native of Toronto, Canada, she came to Mizzou as a member of the women’s swim team. While in Beijing, Bennett will work as a media assistant in the Olympic News Service media center, covering several sports.
Lindsay Toler is a senior newspaper journalism major. This summer she will cover gymnastics and trampoline for the Olympic News Service. She also will blog for the neighborhood section of her hometown paper, the Dallas Morning News.
Julia Shuck, a Missouri native, is a junior agricultural journalism major whose passions include traveling, communication and international agriculture. While at the Olympics, her duties include interviewing gymnasts and their coaches after competitions and during press conferences.
Justin O’Neil, a native of Chicago, is a senior newspaper journalism and political science student. He will help cover men’s and women’s gymnastics for the Olympic News Service during the Olympic Games in Beijing and also will work at the Paralympics there in September.
Paige Hansen, a junior from San Francisco, is a broadcast journalism major. While in Beijing, she will work as an intern for the Olympic News Service.
This was highly interesting, I applaud this site . Many thanks to the poster.
Giacomo | July30, 2009
Very interesting! Good job students and I wish you all success! -Conner
Conner Lambden | July24, 2009
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