Journalism Students Make Strong Showing at KBA Impact Broadcast Awards
LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 15, 2021) — In a challenging year of delivering the news while masked, distanced and remote, students in the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information’s School of Journalism and Media proved that they were willing and able to rise to the challenge.
In a virtual awards ceremony held on Tuesday, June 8, 2021, the Kentucky Broadcaster’s Association presented the 2021 Impact Broadcast Awards. The annual awards were formerly known as the Kentucky Associated Press Broadcast Awards.
UK students placed in six of the nine college TV categories awarded and earned a total of seven awards including one first place, four second place and two third place awards in the College TV category. UK also scored a first place award in the College Radio category.
The winning UK entries are:
- Feature Story: First, Zach Epperson, "Underground Railroad"
- Public Affairs: Second, Brandon Jent, "Voting in Fayette County"
- Sports Coverage: Second, Hayden Gooding, "Special Olympics"
- News Story: Third, Alaina Kwan, "Medical Waste Management"
- Television Reporter: Second, Brandon Jent; Third, Alaina Kwan
- Overall Newscast: Second
- Public Affairs College Radio: First, Lauren McCally and Andrew Sutherland, "Campus Voices — The Keto Diet"
Andrew Dawson, lecturer in the School of Journalism and Media, directs the student news broadcasts.
"Our students never cease to amaze me with their hard work and dedication to learning the craft of journalism. It is especially rewarding seeing them shine in such uncertain and difficult times. They continue to take instruction, learn and go out and make all of us in the school proud,” Dawson said.
The full list of KBA Impact Broadcast Awards can be found at www.kba.org/impact-broadcast-awards-finalists/.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
In 2022, UK was ranked by Forbes as one of the “Best Employers for New Grads” and named a “Diversity Champion” by INSIGHT into Diversity, a testament to our commitment to advance Kentucky and create a community of belonging for everyone. While our mission looks different in many ways than it did in 1865, the vision of service to our Commonwealth and the world remains the same. We are the University for Kentucky.