#FocusDisruption Wins Cablefax Program Award
The Montclair State University School of Communication and Media (SCM) student-run multimedia project #FocusDisruption has won a prestigious Cablefax Program Award.
Posted in: School of Communication and Media News
Students from WSMC 90.3 FM, The Montclarion, Red Hawk Sports Network and the News Lab collaborated to produce content across various platforms for #FocusDisruption, which highlighted how the pandemic affected both our lives and the University community and included stories and interviews with professors, students, staff and experts in health, education, politics, sports, technology, climate change and social media. The show culminated in a one-hour special that aired on Dec. 9, 2021.
#FocusDisruption was crowned the winner over submissions from some of the world’s most well-known media outlets, including a runner-up special about financial education from CNBC+.
“On behalf of the entire team that worked on this project, thank you to the Cablefax Awards Program committee,” says student Julia Egan, who co-produced the show with fellow student Cassidy Steinhilber. “This was a collaborative, multimedia project that covered a topic that has defined most of our careers at Montclair, and at times was challenging to cover. We grew as journalists and as a team, and it was an incredibly rewarding experience.”
“Our students’ storytelling and creativity always impresses me and this special was packed with incredible work,” says News Lab coordinator and SCM Clinical Specialist Mark Effron “To have a collaborative and immersive project like this be recognized by the Cablefax Awards Program reflects the students’ hard work and the quality of education they are receiving at the School of Communication and Media.”
#FocusDisruption is part of a series of #Focus initiatives that SCM students work on each semester. The project topic, which changes each semester, incorporates their skills in journalism, digital media creation and public relations strategies throughout the production process. Topics in previous semesters have included #FocusDemocracy, #FocusImmigration, #FocusClimateChange and #FocusRacialJustice.
The Cablefax Program Awards celebrates niche content and honors programming, regardless of where the content originated or how consumers watch it. For more information and a full list of winners, visit www.cablefax.com.