The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's College of Journalism and Mass Communications won 16 awards—including four Best of Show—at the 2023 Broadcast Education Association’s On-Location Creative Works Competition.
Barney McCoy, Gilbert and Martha Hitchcock Professor at the CoJMC, won Best of Show for his documentary “Seven Years a Correspondent” that first premiered in May 2023, as part of Nebraska Public Media’s “Nebraska Stories” series.
CoJMC students Kaitlin Kadavy and Karston Chase won Best of Show in the Film & Video Competition—Promo/PSA/Commercial category for “Librarian Resource Guide.” Kadavy is a senior broadcasting major from Lincoln and Chase is a Film Studies major from Omaha.
Senior sports media and communication and broadcasting double majors Connor Clark of Lake Bluff, Illinois and Dillon Pelster of Omaha won Best of Show in the Sports Competition category for Husker Men's Basketball vs. Boston College.
Nebraska Nightly students Sam Alessandro, Jill Lamkins, Macy Neumeister, Emma Thurston and Lance Vie received Best of Show in the News Competition—Television Newscast category for Nebraska Nightly Election 2022 Update (10 pm). Student winners are listed alphabetically by hometown, year in school or graduation year and major(s) below.
Nebraska
Nebraska City: Macy Neumeister, senior, journalism and broadcasting
Nickerson: Lance Vie, senior, broadcasting
Omaha: Sam Alessandro, 2022 graduate, broadcasting and sports media and communication
Out-of-State
Olathe, Kansas: Emma Thurston, 2023 graduate, broadcasting
Apple Valley, Minnesota: Jill Lamkins, 2023 graduate, broadcasting and sports media and communication
Twelve CoJMC entries received Awards of Excellence at the 2023 BEA On-Location Creative Works Competition.
Two Huskers received Awards of Excellence in the Audio Competition category; Alex Neill, a junior broadcasting and sports media and communication double major from Lebanon, Tennessee for “The Subgenropedia-Chicano Punk” and 2023 graduate Emma Krab of Ogallala for “In Our Nature: Nebraska—Whooping Crane: The King of Birds.”
Three alumni— Joseph Zakaria of Lincoln, Jolie Peal of Omaha and Emma Thurston of Olathe, Kansas—received an Award of Excellence in the Film & Video Competition – Narrative category for “What Happened to Emma?”
Two student projects earned Awards of Excellence in the Film & Video Competition – Promo/PSA/Commercial category. Jill Lamkins, a 2023 graduate from Apple Valley, Minnesota was honored for “Give Blood.”
A five-person multimedia team was also awarded for “How to Use iTrace.” The students worked with Dr. Bonita Sharif, an associate professor in the School of Computing at UNL and her team at iTrace to create a tutorial on how they conduct eye-tracking studies. Team members are listed alphabetically by hometown, with their year in school or graduation year and major(s), if applicable.
Lincoln: Kaitlin Kadavy, junior, broadcasting; Skyler Peterson, 2023 graduate
Walton: Max Wudel, senior, sports media and communication
Sibley, Iowa: Tanner Dykstra, 2023 graduate
Austin, Minnesota: Jenna Gruber, 2023 graduate
Bousaina Ibrahim, a 2022 graduate from Lincoln, was honored with an award of excellence in the News Competition – Radio category for “What is Critical Race Theory and Why Black Studies?” and senior broadcasting, and sports media and communication double major Nathan Hawkins was awarded for “Matt Ruhle Comes to Lincoln” in the Sports Competition category.
Several May 2023 graduates won awards of excellence in the News Competition—Television: Anne Gallagher of Bellevue for “Explaining Composting,” Rebecca Heckel of Springfield, Illinois for “Passion for Quilts,” Jill Lamkins of Apple Valley, Minnesota for “UNL Foodie Competition” and Kloee Sander of Lincoln for “Ramadan Market” and “Two-Man Railroad Crews & The Nebraska Legislature.”
Winners will be recognized at this year’s BEA On-Location conference at the University of South Carolina from Oct. 19-21. The conference focuses on professional development, with hands-on training sessions, and is an opportunity to promote academic scholarship through research and creative sessions/competitions. This year’s conference features special sessions on virtual reality, augmented reality and 360° video.
The On-Location Creative Works Competition is an opportunity for full-time faculty and students to showcase their creative scholarship. Faculty submit work they’ve completed in the past two years to be peer reviewed and students submit work they’ve completed during the past academic year that gets judged by industry professionals and faculty.