Topics: College of Communication Information and Media, Emerging Media

June 23, 2008

Coverage of Ball State University alumnus David Letterman's return to campus in 2007 resulted in one of the nine regional Emmy nominations recently received by Ball State University.

Faculty, staff and students have been nominated in the annual program sponsored by the Lower Great Lakes Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Winners will be announced Sept. 13 during ceremonies in Cleveland, Ohio.

NewsWatch, a student-produced nightly news program, was nominated in the student programming category for its coverage of the Sept. 7 ceremony when Letterman, a member of the class of 1969 and host of his own CBS late night talk show, returned to campus to dedicate the David Letterman Communication and Media Building. More than 5,000 people turned out for the event.

NewsWatch provides students with experience in preparing and airing a live nightly newscast, which in turn serves the university community and the rest of Delaware County with prime-time summary of local news, weather and sports. The student group's faculty adviser is Phil Bremen, who was a foreign correspondent for NBC News before joining the university.

Ball State has received 70 regional Emmy nominations and won 20 since 2000, a testament to the quality of the university's communications program, said Roger Lavery, dean of the College of Communication, Media, and Information.

"NewsWatch and other programming created here at Ball State underscore the quality of our efforts to educate today's students for tomorrow's world of digital media," he said. "We are extremely proud that Ball State students are able to successfully compete against their peers and, in many cases professionals, in the Emmy programs."

The other programs nominated in the student programming category include:

  • "Cardinal Sports Live," a weekly show highlighting Ball State intercollegiate and club sports
  • "The Reel Deal," a movie review and entertainment news show
  • "The MiXx," a 30-minute variety show.

Other projects or receiving nominations and their categories include:

  • "Green Dean TV Episode 102," a webisode produced by the Institute for Digital Entertainment and Education (IDEE), one of four immersive learning institutes in the university's Center for Media Design, informational/instructional program or series
  • "Community Matters: The United Way of Delaware County," a promotional video produced by WIPB-TV and Ball State, community service
  • "Forging Friendships," a student-produced documentary, societal concerns, single story or news series
  • Blake Brenneman, a student from Indianapolis, videographer program, non-news 
  • "Connections Live," a student-produced television magazine, magazine format programs, program/series or special.

By Marc Ransford, Senior Communications Strategist