Buena Vista University’s digital media students and organizations received 35 awards in the annual Society for Collegiate Journalists national media contest.
The SCJ awards were presented on Wednesday in the Anderson Auditorium, along with Digital Media capstones. Contest entries are judged by media industry professionals. The organization currently has more than a hundred chapters across the nation, and all active members are eligible to enter original works in the contest. Each chapter may submit up to three entries per category, with more than 50 categories covering all media formats.
BVU digital media students earned a record 15 first place awards, including the organizational overall categories of television news, radio live show, and radio sports show. BVU also won the special category on First Amendment coverage.
In addition, Digital Media professors recognized Joshua Woolcott for the success ofThe A.B.E.N. Case, a short film he co-wrote and produced with Noah Kallem. The film was an Honorable Mention selection in the 2023 Fault Line Film Festival, which is hosted by Southeast Missouri State University. “Film festivals offer our students the opportunity to showcase their work to a wider audience and can provide them with a sense of motivation to continue pursuing their passion for storytelling,” said Professor Jerry Johnson.
The SCJ national awards that BVU media organizations and students received include:
First Place
SP1: First Amendment Coverage
First place – Joshua Tigges, “As the Watchdog Wavers” (audio story)
TV1: Television News Show Overall Excellence
First place – BVTV News; Joshua Woolcott, Joshua Tigges, Cody Holtgrewe
RD1: Live Radio Show Overall Excellence
First place – KBVU; Joshua Woolcott, “Woolcott’s Witching Hour”
RD2: Live Radio Sports Show Overall Excellence
First Place – KBVU; Joshua Tigges, “Nascar at Night”
IW11: Sports Column Writing
First Place –The Tack; Austin West, “Austin’s Fantasy Train”
IM1: Multimedia News Story
First Place –The Tack; Jackson Trotman, Kosuke Fukuda, Andrew Fox “The Youth Vote in Iowa”
IM2: Multimedia Feature Story
First Place – BVTV; Isaac Stone, Andrew Fox “Discover Albert City Threshermen”
IM6: Podcast
First Place – KBVU; Isaac Stone, Joel Sikora “Trainwreck: Pants on Fire”
TV4: Television News Package
First Place – BVTV; Joshua Tigges, Joshua Woolcott “Buenafication Day 2022”
TV7: Television Commercial or Promo
First Place – BVTV Staff; “#DIGIProud”
RD3: Radio News Package
First Place – KBVU; Joceline Medina “Divided by Law”
RD4: Radio Feature Package
First Place – KBVU; Joshua Tigges, “The Great Retirement”
RD5: Radio Sports Package
First Place – KBVU; Jaxon Van Pelt, “BVU Baseball Season Gets Started Sans Masks”
RD6: Radio Sports Play-by-play and Color
First Place – KBVU; Joshua Tigges, “BVU volleyball v. Dubuque”
RD7: Radio commercial or promo
First Place – KBVU; Joshua Tigges, “Lights, Cars, Action”
Second Place
SP1: First Amendment Coverage
Second place –The Tack; Joceline Medina, Jadyn Forbes, Jackson Trotman “A Bond Over Free Speech”
TV3: Television Live Coverage
Second place – BVTV;Joshua Tigges, Isaac Stone and BVTV Staff, “BVU volleyball v. Loras”
RD1: Live Radio Show Overall Excellence
Second place – KBVU;Joshua Woolcott & Joshua Tigges, “Just Joshing”
RD2: Live Radio Sports Show Excellence
Second place – KBVU;Austin West, Max Olsan, Nicola Veltri “Sports on the Edge”
IW9: Sports News Writing
Second place –The Tack;Jaxon Van Pelt “BVU parts ways with head football coach”
IM1: Multimedia News Story
Second place –The Tack;Joceline Medina, Jadyn Forbes, Jackson Trotman “A Bond Over Free Speech”
RD3: Radio News Package
Second place – KBVU;Colin Imhoff, “KBVU News”
RD4: Radio Feature Package
Second place – KBVU; Joshua Woolcott “Virtual Reality, Technology Addiction and Privacy”
RD7: Radio Commercial or Promo
Second place – KBVU; Joshua Tigges “Distracted Driving PSA”
Third Place
SP1: First Amendment Coverage
Third Place-The Tack;Joshua Tigges “A Premature Death”
TV3: Television Live Sports Broadcast
Third Place- BVTV;Joshua Tigges, Joshua Woolcott, Colin Imhoff, Isaac Stone and BVTV staff, “BVU v. Coe football”
RD1 Live Radio Show Overall Excellence
Third Place- KBVU;Hunter Vasey, “Fresh Fridays”
II2: Feature Photography
Third Place-The Tack;Joshua Tigges, “An Irish Busker”
IM4: Photo Slideshow
Third Place-The Tack;Joshua Tigges, “The Emerald Isle”
RD4: Radio Feature Package
Third Place- KBVU;Joceline Medina, “Escaping War”
RD7: Radio Commercial, PSA or Promo
Third Place- KBVU;Joceline Medina. “College Alcoholism”
Honorable Mention
OL1: Online News Website Overall Excellence
Honorable Mention—The Tackstaff
IW8: Feature Writing (excluding Sports)
Honorable Mention—The Tack;Abby Clark, “Therapy Dogs in Educational Settings”
IW10: Sports Feature Writing
Honorable Mention—The Tack;Blake McMillan, “Remembering Evan Edwards of BVU Men’s Soccer”
IM3: Multimedia Sports Story
Honorable Mention—The Tack;Austin West, “Austin’s Fantasy Train Week #15”
