September 12, 2018
‘Saluki Sports View,’ ‘alt.news 26:46’ earn regional Emmy Award recognition
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The work of Radio, Television, and Digital Media students at Southern Illinois University Carbondale continues to excel and will be visible at a regional Emmy Award event next week in Kansas City, Missouri.
Students will be recognized for their work this past year in both student and professional categories at the 2018 National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) Mid-America Chapter Awards, Sept. 22.
“Saluki Sports View,” produced by Jeremy Sneed, a 2018 graduate, earned a student television award for Best Sports Program for the February 2018 broadcast. The program featured men’s basketball game highlights; an interview with men’s basketball coach Barry Hinson; women’s softball coach Kerri Blaylock; segments on the women’s basketball and men’s baseball team; and a feature on Thai boxing at the Student Recreation Center.
Meanwhile, alt.news 26:46 is pursuing its 32nd professional regional Emmy also at the NATAS event on Sept. 22. Alt.news’s entry, “Episode 19:02” is one of six nominees in the Magazine Program category. In this division, students are competing against professionals from stations in Missouri and Arkansas.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our students,” said H.D. Motyl, Interim Chair of the Department of Radio, Television, and Digital Media. “Both groups work so hard to create quality programming, it’s heartening to see their work recognized outside of the university. The quality of the shows also speaks to the quality of the faculty in our program.”
Two alt.news segments filmed outside the U.S.
The alt.news program featured segments on the Syrian refugee crisis with reports in Greece and Sicily; the Harvest Youth Center Project in Hout Bay, South Africa; Indie Memphis Film Festival; and “Goats on a Roof” in Tiger, Ga. Ben Giles, a senior in RTD from Kevil, Ky., and Stephen Green, a senior from El Paso, were last season’s co-executive producers.
Giles enjoys carrying the program’s successful tradition and standards along with continual evolution.
“One of the things I like about Alt.news is that while we have standard of excellence, the show changes from season to season,” Giles said. “It's always being reinvented by the next people to take it over. I feel like me, Steve, and all of the staff were able to create something different from past seasons, that has its own unique style and flair.”
Greene pointed to the episode’s reach, especially the two segments filmed outside the United States that focused on the Syrian refugee crisis and the impact that music has on the lives of youth in South Africa and the nation’s social struggle.
The nomination is rewarding, Greene said.
“Last season was incredible. We came into it with a majority of the same staff who all had the same mindset of wanting to build and improve on what we had done the season before,” Greene said. “Everybody stepped up and worked insanely hard all year, so to have it culminate in an Emmy nomination is really rewarding for all of us.”
Strength is in students’ desire
For alt.news, the program’s strength over nearly two decades is the students, said Jan Thompson, a professor in Radio, Television, and Digital Media who is also faculty adviser.
“I hope what it shows is that we have established a dynasty but it’s up to the students to carry this on. I help guide and maybe fight battles, but it is there talent and their creativity that is taking it over the finish line.”
Students prove their mettle
Thompson emphasized it is up to the students to continually excel.
“I think also what this does is show what kind of heart we have,” she said. “We are a small school. We are up against professionals and we are right there. Nobody can take this away from us. This is not a fluke.”