Student Coverage of Puerto Rico Wins College ‘Emmys’
On the biggest awards night in college television, School of Communication and Media students were twice called up to the stage to accept awards at the Television Academy Foundation 39th College Television Awards ceremony.
Only eight awards, which emulate the Television Academy Emmy® Awards, were given out on March 16 by the Academy and two of them went to Montclair State. “This places our students and their faculty mentors in elite company,” says School of Communication and Media Director Keith Strudler. “It’s another step in growing a national reputation for the School.”
Montclair State’s Montclair News Lab: Hurricane Recovery Mission to Puerto Rico won the Best in News award, as well as the prestigious Bricker Humanitarian Award, which recognizes work that highlights global human issues.
The student team, along with faculty and staff members, visited Puerto Rico during their 2018 spring break and worked 10 to 14 hours a day to document the island’s recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Maria, which had ravaged the region in the fall of 2017.
A year later, they flew to Los Angeles, where they enjoyed two days of networking with top media executives and fellow nominees before the awards ceremony.
There were 600 submissions from 174 colleges and universities in eight categories for the awards. The student winners for Montclair News Lab: Hurricane Recovery Mission to Puerto Rico are Mariano Arocho, Natalie De La Rosa, Laura Galarza, Babee Garcia, Madison Glassman, Genesis Obando and Madijuene Traore.
Communication and media arts major Arocho, a producer, director and writer on the project, says, “This project was the most important thing I’ve done in my college career. Not only was the project personal for me as I’m Puerto Rican, but it was an honor to be given a chance to tell the stories of those who struggled during and after Maria.”
“Montclair State has a long tradition of preparing graduates for the communication and media industries,” says College of the Arts Dean Daniel Gurskis. “These Emmy® Award-winning students are already making their mark as the next generation of professionals in their field.”