Students, Faculty Dominate at ETSPJ Golden Press Card Awards - College of Communication and Information

Students and faculty from the College of Communication and Information took home top awards in several categories at the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists’ Golden Press Card Awards, including a significant second-place award that has previously never been given to student work: the Horace V. Wells Jr. Community Service Award.

This award is given to a body of work that exemplifies service to a community, and the reporting that won it was a student-produced special titled Voting Matters: Covering the Issues that Matter to You, which was live-streamed on The Volunteer Channel (TVC) last fall. The program was part of the Election Project, a coordinated coverage initiative of The Media Center and the School of Journalism and Media. It drew upon student work in classes offered across the school, as well as various student media outlets. As one judge noted, the students who created Voting Matters put together an informative, unbiased, easy-to-understand primer for first-time voters that “should be included in school curriculum” as it was so well done. Producing high-quality, extensive, and collaborative reporting such as this is the mission and goal of The Media Center said School of Journalism and Media Professor Nick Geidner, who is director of The Media Center.

“We’re trying to find places where we can have a big impact on the community and try to fill a void. I think with Voting Matters, not a lot of journalism impacts 18- to 22-year-olds. We’re just trying to find ways to create amazing student experiences,” Geidner said. “The awards are an extra benefit—the real reason why we are doing this is to give students real- world opportunities and to create reporting that really adds to our community.”

Individual students also walked away with awards from the Student Journalism category honoring their achievements, including:

First Place for Hurricane Helene In-depth Coverage – First Place, Pierce Gentry, WUOT 91.9 FM
Second Place for Best Feature Story – Kylia Berry, The Volunteer Channel
First Place for Best Student Journalist – Kylia Berry, The Volunteer Channel
Second Place for Best Student Journalist – Alexie Cowan, The Volunteer Channel
First Place for Commentary – Ansley Graves, The Daily Beacon
Second Place for Sports Beat Reporting – Trevor McGee, The Daily Beacon
Second Place for Best Sports Photography – Ryan Beatty, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, for USA TODAY

Ryan Beatty’s winning photo was taken in Paris, France, as he covered the 2024 Paralympic Games for the USA Today Network as part of a course offered by the School of Journalism and Media, taught by Professor Erin Whiteside, preparing students to cover the Games. Other courses, such as the television reporting courses, generate the news stories students air on TVC.

Pierce Gentry (’25), who just graduated with a major in journalism and media and has been working part-time as a reporter for WUOT, also earned five awards in the Radio category, including:

First Place for Government & Politics Reporting – Knoxville Voters faced with ‘At-Large’ Decision
First Place for General Reporting – Celebrating 100 years of the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club
First Place for Deadline/Breaking News Reporting – Dynamite Found at CMC Recycling (this was a piece also produced with WUOT reporter Jon Knowles)
First place for Feature Reporting – A Smoky Mountain Christmas
Second Place for Feature Reporting – Plein Air Painters Persist Through the Rain in the Great Smoky Mountains Park

All the students who won individual awards are studying within the School of Journalism and Media, which has collaborated with The Media Center to integrate student work into coordinated coverage such as the Election Project. School of Journalism and Media Director Amy Jo Coffey said the dizzying array of student awards and recognition this year from ETSPJ and several other national and regional competitions speaks to the efficacy of expanding the classroom beyond its four walls.

“It’s a synergy between our courses and a lot of the opportunities they are afforded through The Media Center and different outlets, and that synergy is really our winning formula. It’s propelled by high-caliber faculty who are pushing them and who recognize what it takes to get to the next level,” she said. “We’re in a transformative moment in the School of Journalism and Media and at our media properties because we are intentional about creating hands-on experiences. It’s not just in the classroom, it’s beyond the four walls—whether it’s in a studio or across the globe, but that’s what makes our education distinctive in terms of how we do journalism here.”

One such faculty member is Assistant Professor of Practice Brittany Tarwater, who started teaching at the School of Journalism and Media in January 2024 and serves as advisor to TVC while retaining her position at WVLT as an anchor. These awards affirmed her hard work both as a teacher and journalist as she watched her students rake in the awards. Tarwater herself won First Place for Best Anchor in the Television category.

Tarwater is thrilled by her award and by the students’ wins, noting that teaching students how to create award-winning work reinforces foundational best practices that make her own reporting stronger. She said the awards are another real-world learning opportunity for students as entering competitions helps them understand the value of good work—and if they win, itis an impressive addition to their resumes. She’s also been using it to teach students to be vulnerable by putting their work in front of seasoned professionals for critique, as losing can be as much of a lesson as winning.

“They’re all award-winning journalists and that’s important. We want to make marketable and responsible journalists, and the work they’re doing is important and real and impactful. To be recognized with an award is a reflection of that work,” she said.

Tarwater wasn’t the only faculty member to be recognized, as Professor Mark Harmon also received two awards for his editorial work: Second Place for Personal Columns/Review/Criticism in the Newspaper (Large) category; and Second Place for Freelance Writing in the All Media category. Judges’ comments note that Harmon “isn’t afraid to call it as he sees it” and that “he shows his passion yet lays out his arguments and position well.”

Below are additional stories about awards recently won by The Media Center’s student outlets: