MANCHESTER, Tenn. — MTSU students John Coulston and Kimi Thompson are enjoying this year’s Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival from a unique vantage point.

They are part of a select student team from the College of Mass Communication providing multimedia coverage of the world-famous music event for The Tennessean and other media platforms, thanks to a partnership with festival organizers initiated by Dean Ken Paulson.

MTSU College of Mass Communication sophomores Kimi Thompson and John Coulston roam the grounds of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn., Thursday in search of stories for The Tennessean. (MTSU photos)

“They are having a terrific time,” Paulson said of the student team. “It’s a great educational experience for them. and they get to cover the music they love up close.”

Coulston, a sophomore journalism major, was making the most of the experience on Thursday, roaming the festival grounds and capturing photos and videos for The Tennessean through an iPad.

“I’m covering all kinds of events going on — all the bands, interviewing some Nashville acts that are playing the festival and looking for interesting people to profile,” he said.

Thompson, a public relations sophomore, had similar goals as she traveled between music venues.

“I’m looking for great stories and situations worth reporting,” she said. “And it’s a chance to prove myself and show what I can do.”

That’s what Paulson and the other faculty mentors at Bonnaroo said they want to hear from all the students on the team.

“Our hope is that students will get first-hand experience on what it is like to cover a music festival,” the dean said. “It’s about … using cutting-edge tools, multimedia, and making sure you capture the story.”

You can watch a video report about MTSU’s partnership below.

Paulson brokered the partnership earlier this year between the college and Bonnaroo. In April, Bonnaroo partners Ashley Capps, owner of AC Entertainment, and Rick Farman, co-founder of Superfly Presents, came to MTSU to work with students in the college.

The partnership also includes a symposium that MTSU will host this fall on the “Anatomy of a Music Festival: The Bonnaroo Story and the Future of Festivals.”

“We are delighted to have this partnership with Bonnaroo and The Tennessean, giving our students real-world experience covering the festival, talking to artists and looking behind the scenes at what really goes on at a world-class festival,” Paulson said.

“MTSU has a unique college: We’ve got recording industry, we’ve got journalism, we’ve got electronic media communication. All of that makes Bonnaroo a perfect laboratory for what we do.”

MTSU boasts the fifth-largest mass-communication college in the nation and is the only one that features departments of recording industry, journalism and electronic media communication.

It also is home to the Center for Popular Music, which maintains a large research library and archive and interprets various aspects of American vernacular music.

A survey by Radio Television News Association, published by TV Week’s NewsPro magazine, listed the college among the nation’s top 20 programs last year. More information about the college can be found at www.mtsu.edu/masscomm.

— Andrew Oppmann (andrew.oppmann@mtsu.edu)

Ken Paulson, left, dean of MTSU’s College of Mass Communication, confers with adjunct professor Pat Embry, center, and Michael Fleming, associate professor of recording industry, Thursday at the media tent on the grounds of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival.

MTSU sophomore Kimi Thompson captures video of the crowd with her iPad at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Thursday. (MTSU photo)