U of A Journalism Students, Productions, Earn Regional Awards

Photo Submitted

l-r: Alex Erwin, Kane Zeno, Morgan Cook, with Andrew Brummett, not pictured, produced the award winning UATV newscast.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Print and broadcast students in the Lemke Department of Journalism at the University of Arkansas and two student journalism productions earned top awards in two recent competitions.

 UATV, the student television station, won the best overall newscast award from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Mid-America Student Awards. The U of A was competing against schools from Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas.  

The winning newscast covered the crash of a small private plane near the U of A campus.

That same newscast also received a Mark of Excellence Award during the Region 12 student Society of Professional Journalists conference. The region includes Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee.

Students who worked on this newscast included UATV student staff, reporters from the TV reporting classes and producers from the News producing class.

Two U of A students also earned Mark of Excellence awards in this competition.

Will Bowden’s article, “The Man He Wants to Be,” won for best non­fiction magazine article. It was written for the student-produced magazine, Hill. He wrote about a transgender man whose multiple sclerosis has made it a battle of will for him to transition from male to female while advocating for a local anti-discrimination ordinance for LGBT residents.

Some of the student SPJ award finalists: (l-r): Ashton Eley, Ginny Monk, Alex Golden and Isabel Dobrin.

Ashton Eley won in the sports writing category for his story in The Arkansas Traveler about allegations that the U of A women's volleyball coach was verbally abusing his student athletes.

Bowden's and Eley's stories will go on to compete at the national conference, Sept. 18­20, in New Orleans.
 

Other awards included:

• The Arkansas Traveler, Isabel Dobrin, editor-in-chief, was finalist for best all-around non- daily newspaper award.
• Meredith Turner’s “American Dreams” was a finalist in the non-fiction magazine writing category.
• Ginny Monk and Alex Golden earned two finalist awards in the in-depth reporting category for two articles they co-wrote on race relations at the University of Missouri and at the University of Arkansas.
• The Arkansas Traveler staff were finalists in the breaking news reporting category for coverage of the small plane crash near campus.
• Hill, was named a finalist for best student magazine.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.