ASU journalism students win big at 2017 BEA Festival of Media Arts

Students at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication won more journalism awards at the Broadcast Education Association’s annual Festival of Media Arts competition than any other school in the country.

Cronkite School students took home a total of 18 awards, the combined total of the second- and third-place schools in news, sports, documentary and interactive multimedia divisions. This marks the seventh time in eight years that the Cronkite School has finished with the most awards in these divisions. In the past eight years, Cronkite students have won 135 awards.

In this year’s competition, Cronkite junior Olivia Richard took home one of the highest honors, the Best of Festival for Radio Feature Reporting for a story about veterans that aired on Phoenix NPR affiliate KJZZ. Students also won five first-place awards, two second place, six third place and four Awards of Excellence honors from a pool of more than 1,450 entries, representing 175-plus colleges and universities.

“It was an exciting feeling to know that my work had value, and my story meant something because it was about veterans, who give so much to our country,” said Richard, who also took first place in radio sports.

Cronkite News, the school’s nightly newscast on Arizona PBS, took first place in Television Newscast. Cronkite News students also scored first-place honors in Television Feature and Television Weathercaster categories.

In sports, Cronkite students won awards in the play-by-play, television feature and radio feature categories. Students also placed third in the Studio (multi-camera/live-to-tape) category for the Cronkite News Election Special.

“We are extremely proud of the tremendous work of our students,” said Mark Lodato, assistant dean of the Cronkite School. “Our students produced high-quality broadcast journalism that has made an impact on the community.”

Cronkite Southwest Borderlands Initiative professor Angela Kocherga, who co-leads Cronkite News – Borderlands, won a Best of Festival award in the faculty news competition for her PBS NewsHour story on people’s thoughts on building a wall running along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Established in 1955, the BEA is a global professional association for professors, industry professionals and graduate students who are interested in teaching and research related to electronic media and multimedia enterprises.

The Festival of Media Arts winners will be honored during a special ceremony at the BEA’s annual convention in Las Vegas in April.

Student competition

Radio Feature Reporting

Best of Festival: Olivia Richard, “Arizona State University; Phoenix Veterans Courts,” KJZZ

Third place: Lauren Negrete, “Muertos Art,” KTAR News

Television Newscast

First place: Windsor Smith and Madison Romine, Cronkite News Feb. 17, 2016

Television Feature

First place: Adriana De Alba, “Tres Amigos,” Cronkite News

Second place: Yahaira Jacquez, “Food Waste at the Border,” Cronkite News

Television Weathercaster

First place: Joey Carrera, “Weather Reel”

Television News Anchor

Third place: Joey Carrera, “Anchor Reel”

Television Hard News

Award of Excellence: Zack Moran, “Grants Ensure Processing of Untests Rape Kits in Arizona,” Cronkite News

Radio Hard News

Third place: Jacob McAuliffe, “Trinity Church,” KJZZ

Long Form Video or Film Documentary

Third place: Jennifer Soules, Angela Schuster and Jackie Cotton, “Unzipped: Naming Arizona's Nameless,” documentary

Radio Sports Story/Feature/News

First place: Olivia Richard, “Talent Beyond Age,” Blaze Radio, KASC 1330 AM

Second place: Blake Benard, “Michael Phelps Swims at ASU,” Blaze Radio, KASC 1330 AM

Award of Excellence: Matthew Lively, “Arizona State University Softball: The Territorial Cup,” Blaze Radio, KASC 1330 AM

Radio/TV Sports Event: Play-by-Play Talent

Third place: Blake Benard, “2016 Cactus Bowl,” Blaze Radio, KASC 1330 AM

Award of Excellence: Gavin Schall, Arizona State Classic First Round: No. 19 Florida Gators vs. Long Beach State

Television Sports Story/Feature

Award of Excellence: Blake Benard, “Phoenix Mercury Jersey Adds Essential for Profitability,” Cronkite News

Interactive Multimedia (Solo Category)

First place: Alexandria Coleman, “Decades After Addressing Discrimination, Post 41 Continues to Bring Community Together,” PIN Bureau

Studio (Multi-Camera or Live-to-Tape)

Third place: Trever Migliorino, Xavier Smith, Miles Todd and Joey Hardy, “Cronkite News Election Special,” Cronkite News

Faculty competition

Faculty News Competition

Best of Festival: Angela Korcherga, “Border Wall,” PBS NewsHour