Student Media Wins Multiple National Awards

NC State Student Media was honored by four different college media organizations this fall.

College Media Association (CMA), the nation’s largest organization dedicated to serving collegiate media advisers, presented individual and organizational Pinnacle awards, as well as honors in its Film and Audio Festival, at the National College Media Convention Oct. 29-Nov. 2 in Atlanta.

WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 won second place Radio Station of the Year in the Organizational Pinnacle awards for Division I. All Pinnacle finalists are in the Division I category for schools with an undergraduate enrollment of 10,000 or more.

Nubian Message, a biweekly publication serving NC State’s Black community, received an honorable mention for Periodic Newspaper of the Year, which publishes two to three times a month. This is Nubian’s first nomination for this award.

WKNC received three Pinnacle awards in the video/audio category. KONDE Brown, a fourth-year student studying communication and the station’s 2022-2023 production manager, shares second place for Best Audio Promo/PSA with Maddy Moore, a fourth-year student in textile technology. The promo is for Moore’s “The Doghouse” DJ shift, which currently airs Fridays at 11 a.m. on WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1.

Third place for Best Audio Talk/Entertainment Program was awarded to the “On Island.” episode of “On Black.” The program, which airs every other Saturday at 11 a.m. on WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1 and is available as a podcast, is hosted by Alexis Grant, a third-year student studying material science engineering, Jeanine Ikekhua, a fourth-year student studying communication and international studies, and Hamsata Mazou, a third-year student studying business administration.

In the “On Island.” episode, the hosts discuss how they would structure their own island, including who would be allowed in and what rules would be established.

Carter Norfleet, a third-year student studying English-creative writing and one of WKNC’s video content creators, received an honorable mention for Best Short (sub-3 minute) Video for Entertainment, for “A Day with Art.”

Technician won third place for Best Editorial in the Pinnacle’s reporting category for the Oct. 22, 2022 editorial “NC State’s lack of transparency surrounding campus tragedies harms us all.”

Along with the Pinnacles, CMA holds a Film and Audio Festival at its convention, designed to encourage and promote excellence in student video and audio.

Katie Quesinberry, a third-year student studying chemical engineering who worked as one of WKNC’s video content creators, earned first place in the animation category. “WKNC Presents Double Barrel Benefit 19” was filmed using stop-monition animation, a package of cut-out stars from Target and a Scrabble tile set.

The Associated Collegiate Press (ACP), the largest and oldest national membership organization for college student media in the U.S., also handed out awards at the National College Media Convention Oct. 29-Nov. 2 in Atlanta.

Jermaine Hudson, a third-year student studying social work and psychology, earned fifth place in Best Yearbook Page/Spread for “The next generation of FINER women” in ACP’s Design of the Year contest. He was also awarded an honorable mention for Best Yearbook cover. Hudson was Agromeck’s design editor in 2022-2023 and currently serves as the publication’s editor-in-chief.

ACP also holds a Best of Show contest for media outlets present at their national convention. Windhover, edited by Ryley Fallon, earned fourth place in literary arts magazine at a four-year campus. Agromeck, edited by Krishna Patel, also earned fourth place in yearbook.

Agromeck Best of Show Image Caption: Jermaine Hudson (left) and Hallie Walker show off Agromeck’s fourth place certificate in the Associated Collegiate Press’s Best of Show contest held at the National College Media Convention Oct. 29-Nov. 2 in Atlanta.

WKNC also earned three awards in the College Broadcasters, Inc.’s National Student Production Awards, presented Oct. 21 at the National Student Electronic Media Convention in Orlando.

Katie Quesinberry’s “WKNC Presents Double Barrel Benefit 19” earned another first place finish, this time in the Best Video Promo category.

Rosie Rose, who graduated in August 2022 with a degree in communication media, won first place for Best DJ. Rose hosted “The Riot Hours” as Rainbow Riot. Rose was previously honored in the DJ personality category of the CMA Film and Audio Festival, earning first place in 2021 and second place in 2022.

Rose Kelley, a third-year student studying political science and the station’s content manager, earned second place for Best Podcast for the “Lincoln and Liberty Too!” episode of the U.S. political history podcast “In the West Wing.” The episode explores the chaotic presidential election of 1860 in which Republican Abraham Lincoln defeated Southern Democrat John C. Breckinridge, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas and Constitutional Union candidate John Bell.

Finally, WKNC earned recognition from the College Media Business and Advertising Managers (CMBAM), a group that supports business operations for Student Media. KONDE Brown earned an honorable mention in the best audio ad/underwriting with an announcement for the NC State Institute for Advanced Analytics. It was awarded at the CMBAM annual convention Oct. 14 in Minneapolis.