November 01, 2005
Radio-TV students capture Emmy Awards
CARBONDALE, ILL -- Southern Illinois University Carbondale broadcast students cleaned up at the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Mid-America Regional Chapter Emmy Awards.
Alt.news 26:46, an unorthodox news magazine program that airs monthly on WSIU Television, received the Emmy for Best Magazine Program in the professional category and also won the award for Best Student Production.
SIUC students also won in the professional categories of Best Program Feature, Best Graphics Program and Best Director in a Post-Produced Show. The academy held the awards ceremony Saturday (Oct. 29) in St. Louis.
Jonathan Hayes, a senior in Radio-Television from Atlanta, won five awards, including three for his association with alt.news 26:46 in graphics and as an executive producer. He said the department's hands-on emphasis and commitment to creative freedom made the student-run show stand out from the competition.
"We don't have to live by a conventional standard and we don't let anything sway us," he said. "If you come here and start working on the show when you're a freshman, you can get so much experience. It's more than just classroom time."
Scott R. Hodgson, associate professor in Radio-Television, who also received a nomination for an Emmy in the Education category, said SIUC students made a big impression on the broadcast world.
"When you have students who are beating the professionals in the market, what it shows is their excellence and hard work," Hodgson said. "They have just done outstanding work. And WSIU has given them a lot of freedom and opportunity to be creative and tell unique, interesting stories."
Hayes said the awards will open doors for him and others as they prepare for life in the professional world of television.
"It's already making a difference," said Hayes, who has been working on alt.news 26:46 since he was a freshman. "I got handed six or seven business cards, some saying they would give me a job and others saying to call them. I guess they liked what they saw and they want to hire us."
SIUC Radio-Television Emmy winners included:
• Best Magazine Program: "alt.news 26:46"
Hayes; Catrina Marsh, 2005 graduate, Mahomet; and Jared Kagel, senior, Bloomington, executive producers.
• Best Program Feature – Public Affairs: "John Foppe: Condition"
Hilla Medalia, 2004 master of arts graduate, Israel, producer/director; Hayes, producer/editor; Dong Yu, producer, Springfield; and Andrew Mitchell, senior, Champaign, videographer.
• Best Graphics Program: Hayes, "alt.news 26:46."
• Best Director in a Post-Produced Show: Hayes, Waiting for Time: The Lives of USP Marion."
• Best Student Production: "alt.news 26:46, "Marsh and Hayes, executive producers.
Shaping high-quality undergraduate and graduate programs is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.