Three Reed School of Media and Communications students won big at the Virginias Associated Press Broadcasters Awards, presented at a luncheon on April 5 at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
Thirty-four news organizations in Virginia and West Virginia submitted 611 entries in the regional contest, which featured news and sports stories from 2024. “Bridge Day” by Mountaineer Playbook students Mark Altman, a senior from Sterling, Virginia, and Sean Petraitis, a senior from Long Island, New York, won first place for “Best Sports Feature,” beating out sports stories submitted by professional news stations.
Altman and Petraitis traveled to Bridge Day at the New River Gorge National Park as part of their Sports and Adventure Media Capstone. Their final story featured interviews with local residents and some of the 700 base jumps made during the festival. Altman also created a video postcard, a video in addition to the news report that features interview subjects without reporter narration, featuring some of the jumpers.
Mark Altman
“It means a lot to me because I was putting in hours of work on-site and in Morgantown editing and creating these stories, so to be recognized for our time and work means everything,” Altman said.
Sean Petraitis
“Having Mountaineer Playbook finally recognized at the Virginias AP Awards is incredible,” said Petraitis. “‘Bridge Day’ production was a long process. We started our day at 2 a.m. and traveled to the New River Gorge bridge to start capturing the event, especially the base jumpers who jumped off the nearly 900-foot bridge. Seeing the amount of people and jumpers come out for a few hours to be outside together and spend a day at the New River Gorge bridge was really cool.”
Claudia Di Lima, a graduate student from Shepherdstown, West Virginia, was selected for the Virginia AP Broadcasters Scholarship, which is awarded to exceptional broadcast journalism students.
“I am working a graduate assistantship through the master's program here at WVU,” Di Lima said. “Balancing work, school and personal life is always tough. This generous scholarship can take weight off my shoulders throughout grad school, and for that I'm incredibly grateful.”
Claudia Di Lima
The $2,000 scholarship is awarded to one West Virginia and one Virginia student based on their resume, a submitted news reel, a personal essay and interviews.
“Journalism is at its finest when it is a watchdog, protecting marginalized individuals while holding people in power accountable for their actions. It's important to me because it can give a voice to the voiceless,” Di Lima said.
To view the full list of winners, visit vapb.org. To learn more about the Journalism and Sports and Adventure Media programs, visit mediaandcommunications.wvu.edu.