Student Documentary Wins Barbara Jordan Media Award
documentary producedby students in the Midwestern State University Mass
Communication Departmenthas won the Barbara Jordan Media Award.
“Never Defeated,” adocumentary about Corey Wilson, a college football player
who was paralyzedfrom the waist down in a car accident, was cited as the best
College StudentProduction. The program was produced by MSU mass
communication majors AlyssaBiere, Mary Cuba, Samantha Forester, and J.C.
Rickman.
The students, alongwith Wilson, will accept the award at a banquet in Austin
scheduled for April18.
The awards, sponsoredby the Texas Governor’s Committee on People with
Disabilities, draws entriesfrom across the state. Dr. Jim Sernoe, chair of the
Mass CommunicationDepartment and instructor for the documentary production
course, said the awardreflects several strengths of the department and
university. “I keep tellingour students that we can compete with anyone in the
state, even if we’re not aswell-known as UT or A&M,” he said. “‘Smaller’
does not mean ‘worse,’ and infact, it is often an asset. I couldn’t be more thrilled
for the students.”
Barbara Jordan was thefirst African-American elected to the Texas Senate and
the firstAfrican-American woman from the South elected to the U.S. House
ofRepresentatives. She also had multiple sclerosis but refused to let it controlher
life. Jordan died in 1996.
Since 1982, the BarbaraJordan Media Awards has recognized and honored print,
broadcast, and Internetmedia professionals and students who accurately and
respectfully report onindividuals with disabilities, using People First language and
positiveportrayals. Because the media has an integral role in shaping
publicperceptions, the awards are meant to raise awareness within the
journalismprofession as well as in the public community. Judges include
mediaprofessionals and people with disabilities.
Previous documentariesproduced by students in the Mass Communication
Department have won awardsthrough the Texas Intercollegiate Press
Association, the SouthwesternJournalism Congress, the Rocky Mountain
Collegiate Press Association, and CollegiateBroadcasters Inc.
Contact Sernoe at (940)397-4391 for more information. For more information on
Generated on 3/9/2015 2:28:41 PM, by iNews Publisher, Expinion.net
the Barbara Jordan MediaAwards, visit
http://gov.texas.gov/disabilities/awards/barbara_jordan_media_awards/.
Generated on 3/9/2015 2:28:41 PM, by iNews Publisher, Expinion.net