FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –University of Arkansas television station UATV earned second place in the best Television Newscast competition of the annual Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts. The station received the award for its titled: “Tornadoes Devastate Central Arkansas.” Broadcast student journalists working for UATV provided live reports from Vilonia after the tornadoes ripped through central Arkansas. 

“This prestigious award is testament to the value of hard-nosed, energetic reporting," said Steve Wilkes, director of Student Media, "This story wasn’t easy to get. These UATV student journalists bring great credit to themselves, the University of Arkansas and U of A Student Media.”

Students working on the newscast were enrolled in upper level TV news producing and reporting classes in the Lemke Department of Journalism. 

"Our students are competitive with the biggest and historically best broadcast journalism and documentary programs in the country,” said Larry Foley, chair of the journalism department. “This is a breakthrough for our students and faculty. I've been challenging our students to do quality work and I've told them they can compete with the best of the best."  

UATV airs its newscast live Monday-Thursday at 7 p.m. on Cox Channel 214 and online at uatvonline.net.  

Three student films produced and directed by U of A journalism students also received honorable mention awards in the Long Form Video or Film Documentary category: 

• Tiffany King for  “Paws in Prison”
• Scott Ramsey and Kisa Clark for “Courageous Journey: The Story of Dr. Jocyelyn Elders”
• Daniel Henkel and Alyssa Becker for “Tapping the Ozarks: A Story About Beer”

 

The competition is open to individual faculty and student members of the Broadcast Education Association. Prizes will be awarded during the associations’s annual convention and Festival of Media Arts - April 12-15 in Las Vegas, Nevada.