Ringing in the Summer Olympics

This story, written by UNC Hussman student Cameron Neale '25, was originally published on stories.unc.edu.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

It comes up again and again when talking to the next cohort of UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media students before they set out for Paris to cover the summer Olympics.

From Rio to Beijing and now Paris, students under the direction of Charlie Tuggle, UNC Hussman’s Stembler Distinguished Professor, have partnered with the International Olympic Committee to report on the games from the ground. This summer, 25 students made the trip. Four of those students, Erik Haynes '25, Kyla McGhee '26, Maya Waid '25 and Jasmine Baker '24, shared their thoughts in this Q&A.

• Erik Haynes is a senior from Randolph, New Jersey. He is studying journalism with a focus on sports media.
• Kyla McGhee is a junior from Raleigh, North Carolina, studying journalism.
• Maya Waid is a junior from Harrisonburg, Virginia. Waid is double majoring in media and journalism and global leadership.
• Jasmine Baker is a recent graduate from Starkville, Mississippi. She walked this past May as a broadcast journalism major with a concentration in sports media. Baker currently resides in Illinois and is a reporter for the Chicago Bears.

How are you participating in Hussman’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics?

Erik Haynes: I will be reporting for WCNC, Charlotte, which is an NBC affiliate. We’re currently in contact with the news director and digital director there. We’re still up in the air on what forms of content we’ll be producing, but as of now, it looks like we’ll be more on the digital side, possibly some YouTube content, maybe some “day in the life” of the athletes as we begin to connect with them leading up to the Olympics.

Kyla McGhee: I’m on the broadcast side. So with NBC affiliates, with the channel called WITN out in Greenville and WECT, which is in the eastern part of North Carolina.

Maya Waid: I’m one of the writers. A lot of the people on our trip are broadcast or video people, but I am reporting for The News & Observer and their sister media organization, The Charlotte Observer.

Jasmine Baker: I’m working with an organization called Beasley Media Group. They started in North Carolina, and now they’re a national network, which is really cool. I’ll be writing and producing some video pieces.

What is your prior experience in sports reporting?

Erik Haynes: Just my Hussman classes, interviewing government officials, town residents and university officials. I’ve used those reporting and interviewing skills, even video editing, through Adobe Creative Suite, building what I like to call “wearing many hats” in the industry. Implementing that experience in another country on my own for the first time, I feel confident that the skills I developed through my classes, with my teachers pushing me in all those facets, prepared me to take on this assignment that I’m very excited for.

Kyla McGhee: I volunteered for Carolina Week my freshman year. I work for Go Heels productions on campus on the broadcast side, covering ACC Network games or ESPN+ channels. I also do Go Heels creative as well, which is just video recording.

Maya Waid: In high school, I did journalism for four years, and I was the sports editor-in-chief and then the head editor-in-chief. Then I wrote for JMU (James Madison University) athletics, which is actually my hometown, after my freshman year. And at UNC I write for The Daily Tar Heel sports desk. Being able to report at the Olympics for UNC is definitely a big deal.

Jasmine Baker: Sports reporting has been a passion of mine it feels like forever. At UNC, Sports Xtra, which is like our Carolina ESPN, I was the football analyst my sophomore year. I would talk about our football games. My junior year I was an anchor on the desks, which was really fun. And I was a freelance sideline reporter for ACC Network through Go Heels.

Internship wise, I worked at Fox Sports in LA between the summer of my sophomore and junior years. That was with their NFL gameday show. Then last summer I worked for USA Baseball and did play-by-play for baseball games and called over 100 games.

How has the Hussman School helped you prepare?

Erik Haynes: We’ve been meeting bi-weekly with the whole cohort, discussing travel plans, equipment, credentials, logistics and how the group will move. We’re going to have access to certain sites to film and broadcast possibly live shots to our partners.

My group meets, when necessary, with the WCNC news director and digital director. As we lead up, the track and field qualifications are still going as are gymnastics so as the rosters narrow down, we’re going to be able to start right away and hit the ground running with that list.

Kyla McGhee: Dr. Tuggle always stresses that we strive for perfection. It’s not like he treats us like students; we’re professionals. He’s now saying we’re no longer students right now. This is real-world stuff. This is professionalism.

Professors Laura Ruel and Parth Shah prepared me for the storytelling aspect and with editing, figuring out what needs to be cut and what doesn’t need to be cut. They taught me to find that storytelling angle that nobody else can find.

Maya Waid: I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of good professors at Hussman so far, even in my first two years. Taking classes like feature writing with Tim Crothers and sports and the media class and writing and reporting with Ryan Thornburg have made a really big difference.

What are you most looking forward to during your time in Paris?

Erik Haynes: Producing content for my professional portfolio. I feel lucky as a rising senior that the Olympics are coming around at a time when it’s important to be preparing for my professional career and applying to jobs. I’m looking forward to being able to curate a portfolio and wear many hats as an editor, producer, reporter and whatever may fall when I’m over there, and challenging all the skills I’ve been able to develop at UNC-Chapel Hill.

I’m also looking forward to the culture there. I’ve taken French – even though I can’t speak it very well – since fifth grade. Seeing the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Champs-Élysées, all those things, and experiencing all that for the first time will be awesome. I can’t wait for it.

Kyla McGhee: I’m really excited to meet the athletes, see the Olympics, first of all, that’s just a once in a lifetime experience at my age, and just see the athletes for more than their sport. Learn their stories, see where they came from, talking to family members, how did you get here? Just learning about their journey.

Maya Waid: I am most excited for the chance to be at the Olympics. I think it’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I’m grateful for UNC and the professors and my parents supporting me financially. I think it’s going to be an important learning experience, not just as a sports journalist or as a student journalist, but as a life experience, living abroad and working with other people.

Jasmine Baker: I want to tell stories that people are proud of at the end of the day. That’s why I do what I do: for athletes to be able to send this to their families, their friends, to hold on to it themselves. What I want out of Paris is to tell the stories, not only the sacrifice that it takes to get there, but also the joys, and what the athletes have gone through. But also where they are now and how they feel. I really just want to celebrate them.

One of the reasons I also love sports reporting is because you’re surrounded by greatness. And I think that it’s contagious. Sp I definitely want to see where that love comes from, what makes them great, what makes them wake up in the morning every day and train beyond their body saying no.

Are there any sports you’re really hoping to see?

Maya Waid: l played basketball so I’m a big basketball person. If I have the chance to cover the men’s or women’s team, I would be so excited for that. I’ve also played volleyball my whole life so that would be a huge opportunity too. Honestly any sport at the Olympic level. I’ve never done gymnastics, but I think that would be incredible to see.

Jasmine Baker: I genuinely can’t fathom seeing the USA Gymnastics team. I did gymnastics for a long time, which makes me appreciate it more because I don’t get how your body does that, but I know what it’s like to try. And then it really works out — one of the Bears players, his wife is Simone Biles. I’ve gotten to speak to him a few times, and he’s really excited.

I’m also super excited for breakdancing and sports like trampoline gymnastics. That’s sick. I don’t think that there’s a single sport that would not be incredible to watch because, again, these are the best athletes in the world. When else do you get to see them all in one place?

As told to Cameron Neale ’25
Images submitted by students; top image collage designed by Maggie Lowe.