Temple Update and OwlSports Update were among the selected university media programs nationwide to be recognized in 2019’s BEA Festival of Media Arts.

The Broadcast Education Association (BEA) hosts an annual media competition culminating in their festival of media arts which awards the best faculty and student creative works in a number of categories.

Temple Update won first place in the category for television newscasts that broadcast three or less days per week. OwlSports Update won third place in the television sports feature category, as well as two television sports anchor awards of excellence for Klein students Alexa Ross and Matt Bevenour.

“Any time you’re recognized in a nationwide competition against some really major schools out there, it validates everything we do, everything we try to do, and everything I try to teach my students,” said Matt Fine, creator and executive producer of OwlSports Update.

Executive producer of Temple Update, Peter Jaroff, agreed that it was gratifying to get such a positive reception, especially alongside schools like the University of Miami and Michigan State University.

“Students have been working hard for years, over the years to produce better and better newscasts every semester,” Jaroff said. “For them to have their work recognized by a fairly prestigious organization was just incredible.”

In the past, Temple Update and OwlSports Update have both received recognition from other organizations including the Mid Atlantic Emmy Awards, College Broadcasters Inc., and the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System.

The Temple Update newcast that won the BEA award was the December 6, 2018 broadcast covering the controversy surrounding Professor Marc Lamont Hill’s statements about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which student reporters analyzed and discussed on-air.

Senior media studies and production major and Temple Update technical assistant Brianna Dent said that the making of that particular newscast was a big deal to the students because the topic was garnering national attention.

“We wanted to get it right,” Dent said.

Jaroff added that the judges recognized the professional and thoughtful approach of the student anchors and reporters to a serious story.

“It was an example of a time when really good content and very good execution happened at the same time, which in live production is very very difficult,” Jaroff said.

OwlSports Update won third place in the sports feature category for the story ‘Finding a Home - Temple TUFF’, by Sarah Metts.

The feature followed a young man who received a football scholarship from Temple after facing homelessness throughout high school and overcoming the odds to play high school football.

“Metts was really dedicated and drove down to D.C. twice to interview this kid,” Fine said. “It shows a certain level of commitment to telling a good story and right off the bat I thought that was something that set that feature apart.”

Dent, who got involved with Temple Update as a freshman, said that all of the Temple University Television programs are a great opportunity for students to learn even if they aren’t interested in news as a career.

“Not only are we learning, but we have the chance to win awards like this one,” Dent said. “It speaks to how we actually put out a quality product and it’s something that makes us so very proud of the things we accomplish.”