EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University’s “Focal Point,” a student-run TV news magazine, recently won first place for Best College News Broadcast in the MTV Student Production Awards for 2005.
“I was ecstatic when I heard about it,” said former “Focal Point” producer Mark Kwas of Livonia, who graduated in May 2005 with a degree in journalism. “It gave recognition to the “Focal Point” team and to the broadcast journalism program, which is really growing.”
Kimmerly Piper-Aiken, assistant professor of journalism and faculty adviser for “Focal Point,” oversees the students who create the show, which airs stories for and about the MSU community.
“It’s nice to get national recognition like this,” Piper-Aiken said. “The students really work hard to produce good shows.”
Universities from around the nation submitted their broadcast work. The Association of Higher Education Cable Television Administrators (AHECTA) announced the awards, sponsored by mtvU, at its summer convention in St. Louis in June.
The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students at AHECTA institutions and all productions must have aired on a campus cable television channel.
Students in upper-level broadcast journalism classes work on putting the show together and students also may participate on an extra-curricular basis.
Doug Owen, the former campus cable manager, submitted the “Focal Point” tape to the AHECTA competition.
“The students have left a legacy. It’s been nice to see them develop their skills and go on to really good jobs,” Owen said. “Of course, there is an end-of-year tradition where we show the students’ first broadcasts, which always embarrasses them.”
Owen and a group of students started “Focal Point” eight years ago when a student wanted to get more broadcast experience, but didn’t want to wait until it was offered in upper-level classes.
“This award is a verification of the high quality of the broadcast journalism program at MSU and it’s also an excellent outreach tool,” Piper-Aiken said.
Last year, “Focal Point” also received the national "Excellence Award" in the Information/ Documentary News category of the MTV Student Production Awards.
Starting in August, “Focal Point” will air on KAR2, one of WKAR’s cable outlets.