USI Communication and Media students win six BEA Awards

Six students from the University of Southern Indiana’s Communication and Media Program received Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts Awards in February. USI had winners in five areas, one of which is a big first. All students are a part of 95.7 The Spin, USI’s student-run radio station.

Jonah Addis won first place in the PSA, Promo or Commercial category for a promo of the Central Bears vs. Castle Knights football broadcast.

Dawson Cochran and Becca Lanham won second place in the PSA, Promo or Commercial category for a PSA concerning USI’s Free Admission week.

Tyler Huyser and Jada Hamby won third place in the On-Air Personality category.

Amber Brinton and Ethan MacCowan won first place in the Comedy and Drama category within the Audio Competition. Their entry was then named the Best of Festival in the entire audio area. The work on the winning production was done in the RTV 356 Advanced Digital Audio Production course. This marks the first time USI has won a Best of Festival Award from BEA.

“The awards these students won in a prestigious national competition show our talent. Many of the best-known universities enter this competition, and our students produce work that not only is competitive with them, but often will beat them,” said John Morris, Instructor in Radio and Television. “I am also very excited about Ethan and Amber winning the Best of Festival in the Audio category. While we have won numerous BEA awards over the years, we have never won a Best of Festival.”

Best of Festival winners will be honored at the 22nd Annual BEA Best of Festival Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas on Monday, April 15 as part of BEA’s annual convention. During the ceremony, recipients will be recognized with a screening of their winning project, a crystal trophy and a cash award of $1,000 from the Diana King Memorial Endowment. The 2024 Best of Festival winners were selected from a pool of over 1,885 entries, representing more than 300 colleges and universities in the following competitions: audio, documentary, film and video, interactive multimedia, news, scriptwriting, sports, and two-year colleges.

USI Communication and Media students win six BEA Awards including Best of Festival Award