Wartburg College student media have won four first-place awards from the Society for Collegiate Journalists and six from the Iowa Broadcast News Association.
Nathan Ford, a sophomore from Grinnell, led the way in the national SCJ competition with two firsts, a second, third and honorable mention, as Wartburg took 12 total awards in results announced in April.
Wartburg Television won five staff IBNA firsts for Overall Excellence (tied with Loras College), Best Newscast, Spot News Coverage, Sports Play-by-Play, and Political Coverage and Overall Excellence. Danny Housholder, a junior from West Des Moines, took first in Features. The students won 15 IBNA awards overall.
Ford, sports editor of the Trumpet newspaper, won SCJ firsts in Sports Page Design and a Multimedia Sports Story, the latter on the retirement of record-setting Wartburg wrestling coach Jim Miller. He also had a second in Sports Feature, third in Multimedia Sports Story and honorable mention in Sports News.
“Good Morning Waverly” took first for Television News Show Overall Excellence for producers Jacqueline Schutte, a junior from Luana, and Ben Hoppenworth, a senior from Waterloo.
Tristan Gardner, a senior from Milo, won first place for best Radio Commercial, Promotion and Public Announcement.
Other SCJ honors were for:
- Companion Broadcast Website, second — wartburgcircuit.org staff.
- Multimedia News Story, third — Melanie Oeltjenbruns, senior, Dayton.
- TV Feature Package, second — Schutte; Hoppenworth; Torie Jochims, senior, Cedar Falls; and Hannah Cox and Brandon Hosch, seniors from Epworth.
- TV News Package, third — Schutte.
- Television Commercial, Promo and Public Announcement, third — Shelby Granath, senior, Rockford, Ill.; Hoppenworth.
Among the IBNA firsts were Wartburg Television’s coverage of Miller’s retirement in Spot News Coverage and its YouthVote 2012, an interactive forum with KWWL as a partner, in Political Coverage.
Other IBNA recognition was for:
- Spot News Coverage, third — Schutte.
- Features, second — Schutte.
- In-Depth/Series, third — Granath.
- Farm and Agribusiness, second — Hoppenworth.
- Sports Coverage, second — Granath.
- General Reporting, third — Housholder.
- Overall Excellence in Reporting, second — Granath.
- Best Sportscast, third — SportsKnight.