Bobcats Covering the 2024 Olympics

Matt Barnes is the co-anchor at NBC4 Today at NBC4 in Columbus, OH. Barnes has held the role since 2016 and worked at NBC4 since 2010.

He previously covered the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Fun fact: Barnes brings an Ohio University flag with him each time he covers the Olympics, so he can take a picture with every OHIO alum he meets.

Follow Matt's 2024 Olympic Coverage:

• NBC4
• X: @Matt_NBC4
• Facebook: Matt Barnes
• Instagram: @mattbarnsie

Dr. Michael Burns is active in industry and academia. His industry experience includes working for NBC's TODAY Show at the the 2006 Torino, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio de Janeiro, 2018 PyeongChang, 2020 Tokyo, and 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.

Burns is an assistant teaching professor the director of TEDxCU at the University of Colorado Boulder in the College of Media, Communication and Information. He is also the founder of Burns Learning, a communication consulting and training company.

He earned his M.A. in Communication Studies from Texas State University in 2007 and his Ph.D. in Communication from North Dakota State University in 2012. He serves on the Alumni Advisory Council in OHIO's School of Communication Studies.

Follow Dr. Burns' 2024 Olympic Coverage:

• Instagram: @mburnsou

Keith Cawley is a communications leader at Bridgestone Americas. His area of focus includes internal and external communications activities for motorsports, brand partnerships (like the Olympic and Paralympic Games), and enterprise strategy. A lifelong fan of storytelling and sports, Keith gets to enjoy the best of both in helping outline the company’s strategic vision and driving engagement for its sports and community partnerships. He is focused on helping people better understand who Bridgestone is, where the company is going, and what it is tangibly doing to get there.

Bridgestone’s robust marketing partnership portfolio and community initiatives serve as communications tools for the company’s What Really Matters brand platform. These efforts include community and philanthropic initiatives with a variety of non-profit partners, as well as Bridgestone’s relationships with sports partners like the Olympic and Paralympic Games, global motorsports platforms like the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the PGA TOUR, the Nashville Predators, Bridgestone Arena, and more. 

Keith joined Bridgestone in 2015 after leading internal and external communications for TechnologyAdvice, a B2B tech marketing firm based in Nashville. Prior to that he spent nearly a decade in local television as a sports anchor, reporter and videographer for the NBC affiliates in Parkersburg, West Virginia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Keith graduated from Ohio University with a degree in journalism.

Follow Keith's 2024 Olympic Experience:

• Instagram: @keithcawley

Shamus Eaton is a 2009 journalism graduate from Hartville, Ohio. During his time at OHIO, he was a member of both the cross country and track teams, and he helped launch the first edition of Backdrop magazine. 

Before starting his own creative agency, Eaton worked as a creative director and copywriter for Nike, Wieden + Kennedy, and The Obama Foundation. He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Eaton is in the process of launching a new agency, so his first wave of work will launch soon on Instagram (@copyincorporated).

Jay Cohen is a sports writer and editor for The Associated Press (AP). He spends half of his time covering sports in Chicago and the other half on the AP's national sports desk, editing stories from all over the world.

This is Cohen's fourth time covering the summer Olympic Games. He previously covered the Games in London, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.

A Cincinnati, OH, native, Cohen obtained a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from OHIO's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in 1999. He later obtained a Master of Sports Administration from Northwestern University. Prior to joining the AP in 2003, he worked at The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Follow Jay's 2024 Olympic Coverage:

• X: @jcohenap
• AP News articles by Jay Cohen

Readers can also follow all of the AP's 2024 Paris Olympics coverage.

For the past 21 years, Frank Franklin II has been a Staff Photographer with The Associated Press (AP) in New York City. Prior to that, he worked for AP as a staff photographer in Raleigh, N.C. In 2001 he was a photo intern for AP in Seattle, Washington, while working towards an MA in photography at Ohio University’s School of Visual Communication.

Frank grew up in Queens, New York. He discovered photography while majoring in Business Management at Howard University in Washington D.C.

Frank has covered events including Hurricane Ike in Texas, Hurricane Sandy in New York, multiple Super Bowls, London 2012 Summer Olympics, Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, multiple World Series events, Stanley Cup Playoffs, March Madness basketball, and NBA Playoffs.

Frank was part of the team of AP photographers that won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography for a collection of images across multiple U.S. cities showing the national response to the death of George Floyd.

Follow Frank's 2024 Olympic Coverage:

• AP Newsroom
• Instagram: @ffranklin2

Currently Todd is the Para-cycling Manager at the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). In this role, he oversees the daily operations of para-cycling track and road programs, including general operations and leadership of the para-cycling team, world championships, Paralympic competitions and relationships with worldwide stakeholders. 

While joining the UCI during the COVID-19 pandemic, Todd has led the unit of difficult times, to a 40% increase in athlete participation at major UCI events. Todd has also served as Technical Delegate at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and will continue in this role for the Paris Games. Prior to his current role, Todd was the Summer Sport Event Operations Manager at the International Paralympic Committee in Bonn, Germany. In the role he led an international team to plan and deliver numerous world championships and the largest Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

Todd has been responsible for delivering events on all continents of the world and which have led to huge increase in participation, media and broadcast attention, sponsorships revenue and increased stakeholder engagement. When Todd is not traveling the world he lives in Vevey, Switzerland with his wife Anne-Flore and daughter Simone.

Follow Todd's 2024 Paralympic Experience:

• LinkedIn

Jack Gruber is a staff photographer at USA TODAY and the founder and executive director of Boyd's Station — a Kentucky nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization — which seeks to provide varied visual journalists and artists an environment to “live free and create” through programs to pursue the artist’s individual craft without distractions in a supportive community of like artists in Harrison County, Kentucky.

Gruber launched the Boyd's Station 306.36 Visual Documentary project in 2018, an annual project documenting Harrison County, Kentucky, awarding student journalists the Ed Reinke and Tim Dillon Grants for Visual Storytelling and the Mary Withers Rural Writing Fellowship each year to live and work.

A 1989 graduate of the Ohio University School of Visual Communication, Jack worked as a staff photographer at the Flint Journal, The Detroit News, and the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tennessee before joining the staff at USA TODAY in 2000, first based in San Francisco before moving to USA TODAY's headquarters in Washington DC.

Follow Jack's 2024 Olympic Coverage:

• Portfolio Site
• Instagram: @gygruber

Amanda Lucci is the director of special projects at Women’s Health, the largest wellness media brand for women. In this role she leads ideation and execution of new brand franchises, multi-platform editorial packages and strategic partnerships, and oversees social media and audience engagement efforts.

With a background in celebrity journalism and passion for fostering a deep love of all things pop culture and sports, her writing and reporting for Women’s Health includes as-told-to essays with top athletes, deep-dive features on women in sports, and magazine cover stories. In addition to covering the 2024 Paris Olympics for Women’s Health, she has traveled to the WNBA All-Star Game, Women's World Cup, NCAA Women's Final Four, and US Open on behalf of the brand.

Outside of work, Amanda is an NASM-certified personal trainer and kettlebell coach with a passion for building positive, inclusive communities specifically within the fitness and wellness space.

A native of Pittsburgh, PA and a graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism — where she served as culture editor for The Post — Amanda currently lives in Queens, NY, with her husband, a fellow OHIO alum.

Follow Amanda's 2024 Olympic Coverage:

• Women's Health Magazine Site
• Women's Health Magazine Instagram: @womenshealthmag
• Women's Health Magazine TikTok: @womenshealthmag
• Instagram: @alucci

Maddie Meyer is a staff photographer for Getty Images based in Boston, Mass. Her regular assignments include covering New England professional sports teams like the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox, Boston Bruins and the Boston Celtics. She has photographed four Olympic games, The men's and women's FIFA World Cups, and the FINA World Swimming Championships.

Her love of sports photography stems from her time playing soccer growing up and working for the Athletics Department at Ohio University. After photographing a game on the sidelines at Peden Stadium, she was hooked.

Prior to covering the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris with Stier, the pair photographed the Olympic Swim Trials in Indianapolis on June 16.

Lisa Milne is the director of alumni relations for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. In her role, she builds relationships with the alumni who visit the Team USA House in the Palais Brongniart.

Milne rowed crew as an exercise physiology undergrad at OHIO. She went on to obtain her MBA from Penn State in 2021. She has worked in a variety of positions and industries, but eventually found her way to working in alumni relations for several institutions, including OHIO.

Her husband Spencer continues to work as the assistant athletics director for the Bobcat Club. 

Sarah Stier is a staff photographer for Getty Images based in New York City. Her regular assignments include covering New York and New Jersey's professional teams, including the New York Knicks, Rangers, Yankees, Giants, Jets and the Brooklyn Nets. She has photographed numerous World Series, tennis grand slams, two Olympic Games, the World Cup, and UEFA European Women's Championship. Her favorite sports to photograph are boxing and swimming. Before joining Getty full-time, she graduated with a photojournalism degree from Ohio University.

Prior to covering the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris with Meyer, the pair photographed the Olympic Swim Trials in Indianapolis on June 16.

Follow Sarah's 2024 Olympic Coverage:

• Getty Images' website
• Instagram: @stieriously