ASU journalism students continue dominance at media arts festival
Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication took home 15 awards at the Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts.
In the past six years, the Cronkite School has amassed 106 awards at the competition, the most of any school in the country. This year, Cronkite students captured honors in 11 different news, sports, video and documentary categories, with the competition receiving more than 1,350 student entries.
The Cronkite School won two of the association’s highest honors, the Best of Festival award. The judges recognized Shayne Dwyer with a Best of Festival Television News award for a Cronkite News report on the disproportionate amount of medical marijuana cards prescribed by a select few doctors in Arizona. Peter Haden won the Best of Festival Radio News award for a KJZZ story covering the consumer risks involved with smartphone and tablet apps.
Cronkite students also collected one first-place award, two second-place awards, four third-place awards and six honorable mentions. In the television news anchor category, Analise Ortiz took first and Megan Thompson finished third for their work anchoring Cronkite News, the school’s nightly weekday newscast, which reaches 1.9 million households on Arizona PBS.
Cronkite’s sports journalism program received recognition in several categories, including sports television news program and radio play-by-play. The Cronkite News – LA Sports Bureau was recognized for a profile by Sam Rabadi on a USA Women’s Volleyball player.
Documentary students participating in classes taught by professors John Craft and Peter Byck also bested the competition with four awards. Mauricio Casillas, Carolina Marquez and Cammeron Neely took third place in the long-form documentary category for “Until the Southern Border is Secure,” a film exploring the lives of individuals working along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Our performance in this year’s Festival of Media Arts is a testament to the hard work of our extraordinary students and outstanding faculty,” said Mark Lodato, Cronkite assistant dean and news director. “We are extremely proud of our students and the high quality of journalism they produce year in and year out.”
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. The complete list of Cronkite award winners:
Best of Festival Television News: Television Hard News Reporting Category
“Few Physicians Are Handing Out the Majority of Pot Prescriptions”
Shayne Dwyer
Best of Festival Radio News: Radio Hard News Reporting Category
“Bad Apps”
Peter Haden
First Place: Television News Anchor
Analise Ortiz
Second Place: Television Feature
“Thicker than Water”
Kristen Hwang, Kassandra Gonzalez and Jacob Tibi
Second Place: Television Hard News Reporting
“New Bike Share Offers Green Way to Get Around Phoenix”
Jamie Warren
Third Place: Television News Anchor
Megan Thompson
Third Place: Television Weathercaster
Alena Lee
Third Place: Radio/TV Sports Event, Play-by-Play Talent
“Bourne Braves vs. Cotuit Kettleers, Cape Cod Baseball League”
Kerry Crowley
Third Place: Long Form Video or Film Documentary
“Until the Southern Border is Secure”
Mauricio Casillas, Carolina Marquez and Cammeron Neely
Honorable Mention: Radio Feature Reporting
“Race Fans Flock for the ‘Almost Crashes’”
Peter Haden
Honorable Mention: Television Sports News Program
“Cronkite Sports on FOX Sports Arizona”
Casey Ferreirae, Josh Frons, Arianna Grainey and Kari Osep
Honorable Mention: Television Sports Story/Feature
“Rachael Adams USA Women’s Volleyball”
Sam Rabadi
Honorable Mention: Long Form Video or Film Documentary
“Breaking the Spectrum”
Alex Lancial
Honorable Mention: Short Form Video or Film Documentary
“Garden City”
Vianka Villa, Edward Hernandez, Chris Smith and Aidan Cooney
Honorable Mention: Short Form Video or Film Documentary
“Thicker than Water”
Kristen Hwang, Kassandra Gonzalez and Jacob Tibi