The Cronkite School will send its own media contingent to cover the biggest sporting event of the year.
Students from the Cronkite News Phoenix Sports Bureau will cover Super Bowl 57 at State Farm Stadium, as well as the NFL celebrity and fan events happening throughout the week leading up to the game.
In addition, Blaze Radio, ASU’s student-run radio station, sent a group of students to broadcast live from Radio Row during the week.
Six student journalists from the Cronkite News Phoenix Sports Bureau will cover the game, while three other students have attended other activities throughout the week. These students will write digital stories, shoot video and provide broadcast packages, take photos, create audio stories and provide social content.
“This has been my dream since I was a little girl to be at this one event. While I’d love to be a sideline reporter someday, this is pretty dang close and I couldn’t do it without the school and the people I’ve met who’ve brought me closer,” said student Olivia Eisenhauer, who will be working with the bureau.
Paola Boivin, the director of the sports bureau, covered previous Super Bowls as a sports journalist and former columnist with the Arizona Republic. Boivin oversees the work of the students and is happy for this opportunity for students to work alongside professional journalists.
“I feel fortunate the NFL has given us this opportunity. They’re helping us produce better journalists. It’s great that Cronkite has this great reputation and relationship with the pro teams and college teams in town because it really serves our students well,” Boivin said.
Blaze Radio will work on Radio Row for the events building up to the Super Bowl. Mallory Schnell, the station’s sports director, oversaw the whole process to get the NFL credentials.
“Giving the opportunity to the kids that are going to be broadcasting at Radio Row is super important. This is what they’re going to be doing in the future, so to have this professional experience for them so early on is great for them,” Schnell said.
Blaze Radio has broadcasted from Radio Row all week on the station’s Twitter account and website. Blaze was the only radio station broadcasting live when the news broke that NBA superstar Kevin Durant was traded to the Phoenix Suns.
“I’m really excited. Being from Boston, radio is a big thing so it’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” said show co-host Jacob Seymour, co-host Blaze’s sports show, Furtado and Seymour.
Ryan Sykora, who’s also working on Radio Row, said it’s the perfect experience for people who really love talking about sports.
“You’re gonna be three rows down from someone at ESPN. It’s a chance to network and grow yourself, grow your brand and we’re a bunch of college kids. We get to be out there amongst real professionals and see how it really operates,” Sykora said.
Zachary Woolley, who is serving as the videographer for Blaze and producing the show for audio and video, said the opportunity to work on Radio Row is a testament to the hard work they put in every day.
“People should care that students are taking an effort into building stuff on their own brick-by-brick and I think we’ve done a really good job doing it,” he said.