Students from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications were recognized with scholarships and competitive awards at the recent Nebraska Broadcasters Association convention in Lincoln.
KRNU was awarded 7 out of 12 student awards. Students accepting awards were Bailey Hurley for TV news story – Sex Offender Speaks; Conor Dunn for TV News Feature – Drag Feature and Joy Carey for TV Sports News Story – Rodeo.
Lucille Baker, Brian Hall, and Beau Poehlman accepted awards for Radio Public Service Announcement – Waste Puppet Pals. Also involved in producing this spot were Brianna Carlini, Travis Keaschall, Cade McFadden, Jesse Milliken, Bridget Nelson, Alex Schubauer, Michael Straub, Tanner Vonnahme and Keegan Wilson.
Tommy Rezac accepted an award for Radio News Story – Jaywalking at UNL; Kellan Heavican for Radio News Feature – Saltillo Road Problems and Parker Cyza for Radio Sports News Story – Foodball Practice Changes.
“I am beyond proud of our talented students who worked hard to win these awards,” said College of Journalism and Mass Communications Dean Maria Marron. “This is a testament to the program we have here at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications and our talented faculty who train our students to be successful broadcast journalists.”
The Pinnacle Awards is the Broadcasters Association’s annual competition among both commercial and student broadcasting stations. Several hundred entries were submitted for this year’s competition, with awards presented at the closing banquet of the Association’s convention.
The previous evening, CoJMC students Tommy Rezac and Brett Dettmer were recognized for having been awarded the Marty Riemenschneider scholarships at the Hall of Fame banquet. CoJMC Advisory Board member Rose Ann Shannon was also inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame.
Each year the Nebraska Broadcasters Association awards scholarships to students from the College of Journalism and Mass Communications based upon certain criteria. The students must be pursuing a major in broadcasting, have earned at least 60 credit hours and be recommended by the scholarship committee of the College.
These scholarships were renamed for Marty Riemenschneider last year. Riemenschneider was also inducted in to the Nebraska Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame at the convention this year.
Marty Riemenschneider served as president and executive director of the Nebraska Broadcasters Association from 2002 until 2014 when he became president emeritus. Under his leadership, the organization grew substantially and offered an ever-increasing number of member benefits. He was one of the founding organizers of the Nebraska Amber Alert program and served on the State Emergency Communications Committee.