Journalism Students, Alumni and Faculty Nominated for Emmy Awards

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Students, alumni and faculty from the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences were recently nominated for 2016 Mid-America Emmy Awards.

The UATV news team was nominated for Top College Student Newscast, and has already been selected for the award. The winning entry was the newscast "Plane Crash Down in Fayetteville." Faculty members involved in the newscast include Larry Foley, professor and chair of the Department of Journalism; instructor and Student Media director Robyn Starling-Ledbetter, and broadcast instructor Tiffany King.

Alumni receiving nominations include alumna Marci Manley, a reporter from KARK Little Rock, who was nominated in the General Assignment Report category. Manley was also nominated in the Business/Consumer News Story, Political/Government News Story and Journalistic Enterprise categories.

In the Weekend Newscast category, alumnus and reporter Tevin Wooten from KARK Little Rock was nominated, and alumnus Clint Fullen, creative director for KHBS/KHOG Ch. 40/29 Ft. Smith/Fayetteville was nominated in the News Special category.

For the Evening News Cast category, alumni producers Nichelle Sullivan from KARK Little Rock and Chris Scott from KATV Little Rock were nominated, along with reporter Jehan Sheikh from KY3TV Springfield, MO.

Additionally, several faculty members were also nominated, including Foley, who was nominated in both the Cultural Documentary and the Program Writer categories for the film The First Boys of Spring. Dale Carpenter, professor of journalism, and James Greeson, emeritus professor of music, were also nominated for the same film, in the Program Editor and Musical Composition categories.

The First Boys of Spring focuses on the initial years of baseball spring training in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and is narrated by Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton. Many of baseball's biggest names from the early 20th century, such as Babe Ruth and Mike "King" Kelly, make appearances as the film highlights their exploits on and off the training field.

"Receiving four Emmy nominations is a huge honor," said Foley, writer and producer of the film. "It's a tribute to the great story we had to tell, and the quality of the team I had the pleasure of assembling. Dale Carpenter's editing is flawless and Jim Greeson's musical score is perfectly brilliant. Billy Bob Thornton is great as the main narrator and Jim Borden's photography is wonderful, too. It was a dream team!"

The First Boys of Spring has been selected to screen at the 11th Baseball Film Festival at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, September 23-25. The film is also airing on Fox Sports Midwest, Southwest and Southeast through the current MLB season. Foley and Carpenter's next project will be a documentary called The Favored Strawberry.

Greeson was also nominated in the Historical Documentary category for the film The Caged Bird: The Life of Florence B. Price. The film tells the inspirational story of Florence Price, an Arkansas native who was the first African-American woman whose music was performed by a major symphony orchestra. She came into contact with many important figures in African-American history, and as a result this documentary focuses not just on music but on African-American cultural history as witnessed by this brilliant and talented woman. 

Greeson said he was pleased to be able to work with many of his colleagues and students on this film. These include Carpenter; Calvin White, chair and associate professor of the Department of History, Gerald Jordan associate professor of journalism; and Robert Mueller, conductor of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. The Arkansas Humanities Council and the UA Special Collections Library also contributed to the making of the film.

The 2016 Mid-America Emmy Awards will be presented at the 40th Mid-America Emmy Gala on Oct. 1 at the Branson Hilton Hotel and Convention Center.