Six UF students will have the opportunity to attend media day at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans today.
Jason Cole, an adjunct UF journalism professor, invited his sports reporting class to observe the media day with about 2,000 reporters from news outlets like ESPN, NFL.com and CBS.
“It’s probably the biggest setting of media at one place at one time,” he said.
Cole, who is also a reporter for Yahoo News, was able to get press passes for his students. He said students will get a tour of the media center, Radio Row — a gathering space for all attending radio stations — and have guest lecturers from radio, TV and online news outlets.
“They would be seen but not heard,” he said.
Media day starts at about 9 a.m. today. Cole, who is not attending the event, said he would have class in the afternoon.
This is the second time Cole has offered to take his class to media day. In 2010, he invited his students to the Super Bowl when it was hosted in Miami. Cole said he invites his students when Super Bowls are hosted near Gainesville.
He said each student must make his or her own transportation plans but that he would cover the cost for a hotel with Marriott reward points.
“I’m pretty parental when it comes to that,” he said.
UF journalism junior Caitlin Hartley, 20, said she carpooled with other students Monday.
“Not a lot of students would get this because we’re lucky to have a teacher like Jason who covers the NFL,” Hartley said.
Contact Colleen Wright at cwright@alligator.org.
