UTM’s student-run radio station and campus newspaper successfully competed at the 2018 Southeast Journalism Conference convention held Feb. 15-17 on the Harding University campus in Searcy, Arkansas.
WUTM 90.3 FM “The Hawk” was named “Best College Radio Station in the South” for the fourth consecutive year. WUTM is the first to accomplish this feat in the history of the conference and has won this category eight of the past 11 years.
WUTM also received first place in the “Best Audio News Program” category for the third consecutive year. The radio station has placed in this category every year since its creation in 2011.
“This was a tremendous showing by our students and student media at the conference,” said Dr. Richard Robinson, associate professor of Communications and WUTM faculty adviser. “Our students won awards in almost every area of communications. They did a great job.”
The Southeast Journalism Conference has two types of competitions in which students participate: Best of the South and on-site challenges. Staff members for The Pacer and WUTM won awards in both competitions.
In the Best of the South competition, students submit material in a variety of categories before the annual convention for third-party review. A total of 30 colleges and universities from seven states participated in this competition.
UTM students won the following individual awards in the 2017 Best of the South competition:
- Best Radio Hard News Reporter: Natalie King, a 2017 graduate from Paducah, first place;
- Best Radio Journalist: John Thornton, a sophomore from Atoka, second place;
- Best Radio News Feature Reporter: Ashley Shores, a senior from Lebanon, second place;
- Best Special Events Reporter: Sarah Knapp, a junior from Moscow, first place;
- Best Opinion-Editorial Writer: Ashton Priest, a senior from Union City, second place;
- Best Feature Writer: Kristina Shaw, a 2017 graduate from Cottontown, third place.
In on-site competitions, students choose from a variety of categories to complete practical exercises and written exams. UTM students won the following individual on-site awards:
- Media Ethics, History and Law: Holly Seng, a junior from Union City, first place;
- Current Events: Priest, third place;
- Radio News Reporting: Shane Wofford, a senior from Trenton, second place;
- Television News Reporting: Shores and Jillianne Moncrief, a sophomore from McLemoresville, second place;
- Public Relations: Brooke Boshers, a sophomore from Mt. Pleasant; Emma Bruner, a junior from Martin; and Kait Scott, a junior from Martin, first place.
“As always, I’m incredibly thrilled with the performance of our students at SEJC,” said Tomi McCutchen, instructor of Communications and faculty adviser to The Pacer. “They work hard and bring home knowledge and experience that we can use in student media every day at UTM.”
“It’s tempting perhaps to take for granted our award-winning student media, but I certainly don’t. I see daily the hard work of the students and faculty advisers who mentor them. I am especially pleased this year to see students winning or taking second place for Best in the South in radio, TV, newspaper and PR,” said Dr. Robert Nanney, chair of Communications.
The UTM Department of Communications is housed within the College of Humanities and Fine Arts and includes concentrations in broadcasting, news editorial, media design and public relations.
For more information about WUTM, contact Robinson at 731-881-7555 or by email at rrobins@utm.edu. For more information about The Pacer, contact McCutchen at 731-881-7558 or by email at tomimc@utm.edu. To visit the SEJC website, go to sejc.org.
