UTRGV Student Media returned to the Rio Grande Valley with 52 awards and its third Director’s Cup after competing in the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Convention in San Marcos.
UTRGV won the Director’s Cup for the third time in university history and for the second year in a row, beating out schools such as Texas A&M University, Texas State University and Baylor University in live contests.
The convention took place from April 11 through 13 and featured live on-site contests where students showcased journalistic skills under deadline.
Some live on-site contests allowed competitors to cover concerts, a softball game and a staged breaking news scenario while other contests were held in the convention center, such as copy editing and newspaper design.
TIPA is the oldest state collegiate press association in the nation and is one of the largest and most respected collegiate groups in the country, according to its website.
Student Media won seven first-place, two second-place, five third-place awards and one honorable mention for the on-site competitions during the convention.
Students took part in live competitions that included TV announcing, radio news writing, Spanish news writing and sports writing, among others.
For the on-site contests, KVAQ-TV won six awards. Station Manager Amada Baldovinos received first place in TV announcing; Reporter Julia Guerrero, first in TV advertising; Reporter Monica Chavez Setien, first in TV announcing-Spanish; Assistant Station Manager Tristen Cortez, third in live news video; Reporter Dathan Treviño, third in TV sports writing; and Reporter Andrea Flores, third in TV news writing.
For The Rider, Spanish Editor Fatima Gamez Lopez placed first in Spanish news writing; Copy Editor Rebeca Salinas, first in copy editing; Reporter Viviana Infante, second in live editorial writing; Photographer Abigail Ollave, second in sports action photo; Sports Reporter Ali Halloum, third in print sports writing; and A&E Reporter Silvana Villarreal, honorable mention in headline writing.
“The print and broadcast content our student journalists produce each week during the academic year prepares them well for live competition,” said Azenett Cornejo, director of Student Media. “Earning the Director’s Cup for a third year is a remarkable feat. The students’ faculty advisers–Michell Escajeda, Dr. Aje-Ori Agbese, Dina Vera, Dr. Robert Velez, Dr. Britt Haraway, Student Media Program Adviser Jesus Sanchez–and I are extremely proud of them.”
Gamez Lopez said she was able to meet a lot of people on her journey in Student Media, and has seen many co-workers come and go.
“I feel like my time has come now,” she said. “And throughout my journey, I want to say I learned a lot from everyone, not only my co-workers but Azenett, Jesus, Michell … everyone in general.”
Vaquero Radio News Director Fernanda Gonzalez earned first in radio announcing-Spanish; Assistant Station Manager Timothy Chapman, first in radio news writing; and Station Manager Jan Luis Trejo, third in radio advertising.
In previously published/broadcast competitions, Student Media accumulated 36 awards, including 15 for KVAQ-TV, nine for Vaquero Radio, eight for The Rider and four for Pulse magazine.
The student-led TV station netted seven awards: first in live newscast-video; second in video program production; second in advertising campaign; third in video newscast; third in video program production; third in video news production; and third in overall excellence-news production video.
Individually, Baldovinos placed first in Spanish multimedia news; Chavez Setien, first in video feature reporting and third in Spanish multimedia news; Flores, second in Spanish multimedia feature; Cortez, second in video sportscast and honorable mention in in-depth video news reporting; and Guerrero, third in video sports reporting.
Former KVAQ-TV Reporter Xavier Aguilar earned second in in-depth video news reporting with “Art Students Raise Concerns.”
For Vaquero Radio, Chapman netted first and second in general news audio and third in in-depth news reporting audio.
Gonzalez received honorable mention in in-depth news reporting-audio.
Trejo, Program Director Joseph Zambrano and former Assistant Station Manager Ruben Cintora placed first in advertising/PSA/promo-video. Trejo, Zambrano and Vaquero Radio DJ Eliseo Zavala received honorable mention in advertising/PSA/promo-audio.
Vaquero Radio Online/Social Media Editor Amira Garcia received honorable mention in overall design-website.
Former Vaquero Radio Sports Reporter Kevynne Aleman garnered first and second places in sports reporting-audio.
The Rider staff achieved third place in editorial for “Arts is an anagram for rats at UTRGV,” regarding the poor conditions of Rusteberg Hall due to a rodent infestation and droppings that ruined some students’ work.
Rider Reporter Eduardo Escamilla received second in general news multimedia; Ollave, second in blog; Infante, second in sports column; Photographer Aura Velasquez, third in static information graphic; Gamez, third in Spanish news story and third in multimedia slideshow; and Photographer Eduardo Cortez, honorable mention in multimedia slideshow.
For Pulse, the staff won first in overall excellence-general magazine and third in overall design-general magazine.
America Salazar, online/social media and photo editor for Pulse magazine, said it felt comforting to be coming back to campus with a trophy.
“I think it’s the second award that Issue 008 gets, but it’s the first overall award that we get,” Salazar said. “… I had never gone through that feeling, so it was something new for me, so I felt really good about it.”
Former Pulse staff members also garnered awards for their previously published works, including Graphic Designer Adrian Ortega, who placed second in photo illustration; Graphic Designer Laura Menchaca Pino and Section Editor Benjamin Alvarado earning honorable mention in magazine story package design.
Gallery magazine, UTRGV’s annual arts and literary magazine, received an honorable mention in overall design-literary magazine.
Along with her three awards, Gamez won a $1,000 scholarship from the Texas Auto Writers Association.
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