HAYS, Kan. — The Kansas Association of Broadcasters (KAB) has announced this year’s award winners from their annual state-wide competition. Digital Media Production and Journalism students from the Department of Informatics at Fort Hays State University grabbed six 1st place, six 2nd place and four Honorable Mention awards. Students and their advisors will travel to Topeka on April 4 for the KAB seminar and awards ceremony.
Todd Elsen, executive producer of the Tiger Media Network, which is the converged outlet for digital media at Fort Hays State said, “Students from the Digital Media Program in the FHSU Department of Informatics have a proud history of performing well in the annual KAB competition. The program continues to grow by leaps and bounds and our students’ dedication to their craft has once again been recognized as high quality by industry professionals, and rewarded appropriately.”
Students from Fort Hays State have historically won accolades for their work in radio, television, sports announcing, and documentary categories. The addition of the state-of-the-art facilities at Hammond Hall have positioned students to further improve the quality of their work, and students are having the quality of their work validated at local, state, and national levels of review.
Ron Rohlf, Audio Production faculty who coordinates the submission process is not surprised about this year’s showing, “…which includes a first for FHSU: two awards earned on the national level, meaning two INF media production students will walk the red carpet in Las Vegas this April at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)/Broadcast Education Association (BEA) convention. I can’t express how proud I am at this moment! Suffice it to say… congrats to all!”
This year’s award winners from Fort Hays State:
Undergraduate Radio
1st Place – Documentary, OpDoc: Traditional College Experience, Kadrae Smith.
1st Place – Promotion Event/Activity, #CollegeRadioDay Concert with KFHS Radio, Kadrae Smith
1st Place – Research Paper, Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism in Video Games, Tim Abrams, Derby senior.
2nd Place – Entertainment Program, Anime Podcast, Kadrae Smith.
2nd Place – Research Paper, Public and Private Influences on the First Amendment and Independent Journalism, Richard Kerr, Wichita senior.
Honorable Mention – DJ Personality for Radio OR News Anchor for TV, The Battlefield, Tim Abrams.
Undergraduate Television
1st Place – Public Affairs Program, One on One with Ulises Gonzalez, Richard Kerr
1st Place – Entertainment Program, Local Spice, Episode 3, Breathe Coffee House, Cooper Slough, Goodland senior.
2nd Place – Hard News Package, Protest Coverage, Tim Abrams.
2nd Place – Documentary, Kansas City Coffee Culture, Cooper Slough.
2nd Place – Station Promotion Announcement, #LegendsNeverDie Teaser, Richard Kerr
2nd Place – Station Website, The Leader Digital Web Magazine, Richard Kerr
Honorable Mention – Entertainment Program, The Wave, No Host, No Problem; Season 2, Episode 3, Tim Abrams.
Honorable Mention – Promotional Audio OR Video, FHSU Learning Communities Promo, Richard Kerr.
Intern/TV
1st Place – Enterprise News Package, The Joy of Simplicity, Cooper Slough
Honorable Mention – Promotional Audio OR Video, Handcrafted Hays, Popt! Gourmet Popcorn, Cooper Slough
NAB/BEA
1st Place – Audio OpDoc, #FailCampusCarry, Paul Kirkwood
Honorable Mention – Promotional Spot (less than :90), #LegendsNeverDie Teaser, Richard Kerr
Melissa Hunsicker Walburn, Chair of the Department of Informatics is proud of the momentum of this program, the achievements of the students, and appreciates the faculty and community support for the initiative taken by these students. “I am so excited for these students. It’s powerful to have your quality validated as you build your portfolio of work. Being able to produce what is recognized by industry and judged to be quality work is critical to the students in this field. We are especially fortunate to be able to support the entry fees and travel for this initiative because of donor support. By removing those cost barrier for students, more students are able to capitalize on these valuable, differentiating, experiences.”
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