Journalism school, sports network establish partnership
A West Virginia University broadcast student is headed for the pros.
Chris Gunnoe, a senior at the P.I. Reed School of Journalism, will work as an on-air reporter for ESPN during coverage of this weekend’s Homecoming game between the WVU Mountaineers and Syracuse University Orange.
The Charleston native will be the first student reporter in a newly established partnership between WVU’s School of Journalism and ESPN’s college programming, ESPN-U.
In addition to serving as an on-field reporter during the game, Gunnoe will contribute stories about WVU and the 2008 Homecoming events.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” Gunnoe said. “I did not expect to do this in my senior year. Working for ESPN is something so many people want to do, but not a lot of people get an opportunity like this.”
Gunnoe will be covering stories ranging from the Personal Rapid Transit system to linebacker Reed Williams’ injuries that have taken him out for the season.
“I’ll also be working on a piece about the basketball team’s ‘Mountaineer Madness’ preview event and other stories about Homecoming in general,” he said.
Gunnoe is scheduled to appear on ESPN-U’s coverage of the WVU-Syracuse game on ESPN-U’s satellite channel and WVFX-TV (FOX 46) Saturday, Oct. 11, starting at noon.
Gina Martino-Dahlia, chair of the broadcast news program, said this partnership is another example of why WVU ranks among the best journalism programs in the nation.
“This is just another great opportunity for our students to show their work on a national level,” Dahlia said.
The school’s broadcast news program also partners with KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, as well as MSNBC, the Open Student Television Network and CBS Sports’ U-Wire online network.