College of Journalism and Mass Communications students and faculty won 12 first-place awards and 6 awards of merit at the 2025 Eric Sevareid Awards. The awards were presented by the Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association during the Midwest Journalism Conference on April 12 in Minneapolis.
The Eric Sevareid Awards honor student and professional journalists best of work from broadcast, digital news and sports outlets in Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota.
In the Student Market Television division, the college was awarded four first place awards and one award of merit.
2024 graduate Mia Ackermann of Bartlett, Illinois received first place in breaking news for “Tornadoes leave path of destruction for Elkhorn residents.”
Junior broadcasting majors Marissa Lindemann of Neveda, Iowa and Olivia Reed of Rancho Murieta, California, won first place in documentary/special for “On the Border: Sherry Wounded Foot's Story.”
The Nebraska News Service Staff won the social media category for “A new initiative: NNS Now” and sophomore Harmon Johnson, a broadcasting, sports media and communication double major from Sutherland, placed first in sportscast/program for “Nebraska Nightly sports.”
Katie Lockyear, a 2024 graduate from Lenexa, Kansas won an Award of Merit in documentary/special for “The Golden Barber.”
In the Student Market Radio division, students won seven first place awards and three awards of merit.
2024 graduate Jackson Atwell of Lavista and Ben Drozd, a junior journalism and sports media and communications double major from Schuyler, placed first in diversity- equity & inclusion for their podcast episode “93 Counties Nance County.”
Senior broadcasting major Lauren Behn of Lincoln and senior journalism and broadcasting double major Macy Byars of Omaha won first place in the podcast category for “Thayer County: Run by Women.”
Behn received another first-place award in broadcast writing for “KRNU Student News Broadcast Writing 2024,” in collaboration with Teddy Ball, a junior journalism and sports media and communication double major from Alvo and senior advertising and public relations and journalism double major Ariana Garber of Papillion.
Ball also received an Award of Merit in general reporting for “Nebraska Prison Overcrowding: The State's Unsolved Problem” and in soft feature for “Nebraska's Kinkader Brewery.”
Camden Cohn, a senior broadcasting and sports media and communication double major from Lincoln, placed first in sportscast/program for “Scarlet Sluggers It's no joke: The Huskers are streaking into April” and Danny Berg, a sophomore broadcasting and sports media and communication double major from Chicago, Illinois, won the sports play-by-play category for “Women's Basketball Play-by-Play."
Junior sports media and communication and broadcasting double major Blake Mace of Council Bluffs, Iowa, won first place in general reporting for “More Severe Weather in the Upper Midwest - Adjusting to a New Reality.” Mace also received an Award of Merit in audio for the same project.
Students in Gilbert and Martha Hitchcock Professor Barney McCoy’s broadcast writing class got first place in lifestyle or specialty programming for “The 90.3 KRNU Student Election Night Coverage.”
McCoy also received a first-place award in the Medium Market Television documentary/special category for “Running Towards the Fire- A War Correspondent's Story.”
Associate Professor John Shrader won two awards in Medium Market Radio. Shrader placed first in the sports reporting category with “JILLIAN MARTIN, University of Nebraska Bowler,” and received an Award of Merit in podcast for “The Booming Market: Sports Reporters covering Sports Media.”
