The Volunteer Channel (TVC) received a 2025 Gracie Awards Honorable Mention for the student-run television station’s hour-long Election Day live special Voting Matters.
The special was a mix of pre-recorded segments and live interviews with local public officials as part of the Election Project—a collaborative reporting initiative between the School of Journalism and Media and The Media Center at the College of Communication and Information (CCI) focused on covering the 2024 presidential election.
TVC’s honorable mention in the Television Student category is the first recognition the student-run media outlet has received from the Gracie Awards.
A Gracie Award is a prestigious honor bestowed annually by the Alliance for Women in Media to recognize the achievements of women working in media.
“This is such a tremendous honor,” said Brittany Tarwater, assistant professor of practice and TVC faculty advisor. “This one stands out as a very special recognition and it’s a true testament to how committed and skilled our students are.”
A Step in the Right Direction
Tarwater said the success of Voting Matters is ‘mind-blowing’, adding she was proud of the students’ willingness to rise to the challenge of producing a live show of this magnitude.
Senior journalism and media major Grey MacNicoll said when the idea was pitched—three weeks before Election Day—they didn’t know if TVC had the technological capabilities to produce the special.
However, that did not deter them.
MacNicoll said the support of CCI staff such as Tim Santos, the multimedia specialist at The Media Center, and School of Journalism and Media faculty was critical to the special’s success. MacNicoll said the commitment and support from the college and school further motivated students to give their all.
“I could have never imagined that we could be recognized [with a Gracie Awards Honorable Mention],” MacNicoll said. “Applying felt very much like throwing something in a pool and praying but not expecting anything to come of it.”
Journalism and media major and senior Kylia Berry said TVC’s team wanted to do the election special because they felt it served the student community. For many college-aged students, the 2024 presidential election was their first time voting, Berry said, so the TVC team viewed producing the special as a civic service.
“It was our first out-of-studio live show,” Berry said. “I think going into it, I had positive hopes for getting awards, but at the end of the day, that wasn’t what it was about. Being recognized nationally by the Gracies shows how much work the entire team puts into productions and is a testament to how talented our team really is, the students’ work ethic, but also the journalism program itself.”
Since the Voting Matters special, TVC has completed another live special commemorating Women’s History Month in March.
MacNicoll said once they wrapped Voting Matters the student-leadership team was already thinking of ways to improve and top that show. This led to the production of Trailblazers, an hour-long special focused on telling the stories of powerful women connected to or from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Students not only went on to produce another special, Tarwater said, but Voting Matters acted as a type of ‘springboard’ pushing students to elevate their work as part of TVC’s weekly newscasts and breaking news segments.
“Watching others in your program succeed, I think makes achieving success more tangible for students who may not have been a part of the award-winning project or incoming students,” Tarwater said. “I think it encourages and empowers them to reach for that as well, and that just uplifts everyone.”
As a graduating senior, MacNicoll is excited about the future of TVC. She feels all the work completed, especially within the last year, has laid the foundations for the station to thrive long after she leaves Rocky Top.
Berry is also excited about TVC’s future, adding as younger students join the team, accomplishments like receiving a Gracie Award honorable mention will hopefully inspire them to do their best.
“It’s a joy to stand back and watch our students challenge themselves, taking their work to the next level and be recognized externally for this,” said Amy Jo Coffey, director of the School of Journalism and Media. “Our students are truly our best ambassadors, and we couldn’t be prouder of them. Onward and upward!”