TV2 anchors Rich Pierce and Jessica Schmidt are shown
in the TV2 studio in Franklin Hall during the station's live
broadcast of President Barack Obama's appearance at
Kent State.

Photo credit: Susan Kirkman Zake

TV2, Kent State University’s student-run television station was named the College Media Association Pinnacle Awards’ 2012 “TV Station of the Year” at the College Media Advisers’ annual fall convention in Chicago, Ill. The station also won the award for “Best TV Sportscast.”

In order to be a finalist, TV2, KentWired and KSUBuzz had one of the top three entries in five separate categories of the Pinnacle Awards, out of 18 total categories.

Kentwired.com was a finalist for "Breaking News on the Web" for its coverage of College Fest last spring and "Best Multimedia Feature Presentation" for its multimedia Web page "Primary 2012." KSUBuzz was a finalist in the "Best Mobile Apps/Plug-Ins category for its work creating an app for the Kent-Akron football game last fall.

“Student media work continues to improve every semester, and we continue to be aggressive in our pursuit of the best ways to tell stories and deliver news and information to our audience,” says Student Media Advisor Sue Zake. “We go head to head in these contests with some of the largest journalism schools in the country and more than hold our own. Our students work incredibly hard and are eager to adopt and develop new technology as it becomes available.”

TV2 Advisor John Butte is overwhelmed by all the hard work, dedication and commitment the students put in every week.

“It is quite remarkable to win this award especially knowing that TV2 is managed, staffed and operated top to bottom by students,” Butte says. “It is also extraordinary considering the volume of programming TV2 produces each week. It competed with stations that have greater degrees of professional guidance and supervision.”

The Daily Kent Stater, KentWired.com and The Burr also received "Best of Show" awards, which are awarded only to those attending the convention and are judged as the convention takes place.

“The Courting of Cope: Behind the Scenes of a $1 Million Withdrawal” earned third place at the Associated Collegiate Press convention in the “Multimedia Story of the Year” category.

“This award for the Cope Court coverage means it was selected as the third best college student multimedia story for 2011-2012 in the nation, not just among those who attended the convention,” says Mark Goodman, Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism. “Co-sponsored by The Deadline Club and the New York City chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Story of the Year Awards is arguably the most prestigious reporting award for college student media anywhere. It's a big deal.”

This year, there were slightly more than 400 entries in the "Best of Show" categories at the Associated Collegiate Press fall convention, with more than 2,500 people in attendance from roughly 370 schools. The Burr earned second place in the feature magazine category; KentWired.com took eighth place for best website in its circulation category; and The Daily Kent Stater earned third place in the four-year daily broadsheet category.

"I think there is always going to be a mixture of excitement and nervousness when we put our work on a judgment table like we did in Chicago,” says Daily Kent Stater Editor Emily Inverso. “The work we produce is always a representation not only of ourselves, but of our publications, the journalism school and Kent State University. When we handed that work over to professionals, I was so anxious. When we heard the final announcements of all the awards, even those I am not the direct editor of, it was just an overwhelming feeling of pride. We all work so hard to produce the best content we can. To have confirmation that we continue to stand out on a national level was incredible."

This story first appeared in CCI Candid, the Kent State College of Communication and Information newsletter.