MU agricultural journalism major covers Beijing 2008 Olympic games
by Amanda Davis, posted Sept. 29, 2008
Beautiful scenery, colorful flowers and an artistic array of Olympic signs were some of the sights Julia Shuck, a junior agricultural journalism major from Perry, Mo., could see out the windows of her bus on the two-hour ride to her hotel in Beijing.
Shuck said she was delighted to cover the Beijing 2008 Olympic games. Her job was to cover gymnastics and get three or four good quotes from the athletes so that reporters could use them in their stories.
Viewing gymnastic events from the stands was very different than following the coverage on TV, she said. Shuck compared the experience to watching a three-ring circus. Several events occurred at once, and she had to study the American athletes’ performances closely in order to know which questions to ask later. Her favorite athletes to watch were Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin. Fifteen minutes before the events ended she would head down to the “Mixed Zone,” the area the Olympians were required to walk through to leave, and wait to ask questions.
“Shawn was a chatterbox,” Shuck said. “She was always stretching while she talked.”
When asked if she noticed any differences in the methods that foreign journalists used to interview the athletes, she said, “We were strictly about the field of play.”
They had been warned not to cover any controversial topics. Surprisingly, the Chinese reporters often broached the taboo questions. Shuck also noticed that the Canadian journalists had worked hard to develop a rapport with the Olympians and knew them really well. They would shout out first names to get an athlete’s attention and ask for a quote.
Shuck said her favorite part of her experience in Beijing was seeing people from all of the different countries together.
“The Olympics was one big melting pot,” she said. “Where else in the world are you going see that many different people and cultures in one spot?”
