WVU Reed faculty members Ashton Marra, Gina Dahlia, Chuck Scatterday, Anjelica Trinone and David Smith accepted the programs' awards at the BEA Festival of Media Arts in Las Vegas.
Fourteen WVU Reed School of Media and Communications students received awards for their work on over a dozen projects at the 2026 Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts. Based on students’ achievements in the BEA Festival over the last five years, WVU achieved notable rankings in several BEA program categories.
Those rankings are:
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#12 in the 2026 Top Winning Overall Programs out of 101
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#3 in Top Winning Interactive Multimedia & Emerging Technology Programs out
of 11
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#7 in Top Winning News Programs out of 36
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#12 in Top Winning Sports Programs out of 39
The BEA Festival of Media Arts awards are open to full-time students who are either BEA student members or students at a BEA Institutional Member college or university. This year, there were 2,250 entries from 426 students in more than 300 schools.
The winning productions from the Reed School are:
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1st Place in Sports in the Graduate Student Competition — “Referees” by Ty McClung,
for “West Virginia Today”
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3rd Place (3-way tie) in Social Media in the Student Interactive Multimedia Competition
— “Mountaineer Playbook 3 in 30” by Ali Smallwood
In the Student News category:
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3rd Place in Television Newscast (3 Days a Week or Less) — “WVU News Episode
4” (spring 2025) by Harley Cochran and Meredith Bobersky
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Award of Excellence in Television Hard News Reporting — “Grocery Prices” by Madison
Ely, for “WVU News”
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Award of Excellence in Television Short Feature Reporting — “Mine Rescue” by
Logan Callender, for “Mountaineer Playbook”
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Award of Excellence in Television Short Feature Reporting — “Hearts of Gold”
by Madison Ely, for “WVU News”
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Award of Excellence in Television Short Feature Reporting — “Small Businesses”
by Mason Kinsey, for “WVU News”
In the Student Sports Competition:
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2nd Place in Promotional Video — “WVU Men's Soccer Season Recap” by Cam Caretti,
for “Mountaineer Playbook”
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Award of Excellence in Video News Program — “Mountaineer Playbook Episode 4”
(spring 2025) by Sam Nichols and Tyler Carlbon
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Award of Excellence in Video Talent (Anchor/Host) — Parker Szwejbka, for “Mountaineer
Playbook”
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Award of Excellence in Video Talent (Anchor/Host) — Tanner Mountz, for “Mountaineer
Playbook”
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Award of Excellence in Video Story/Feature (short) — “Gauley River” by Jeffrey
Boggess and Andrew Solt, for “West Virginia Today”
- Award of Excellence in Video Story/Feature (short) — “Michael Coats Jr.” by Vincent Stoll, for “Mountaineer Playbook”
The spring 2025 cast and crew of "WVU News."
The WVU Reed School of Media and Communications offers three live broadcast capstone courses, "WVU News," "Mountaineer Playbook" and "West Virginia Today." In each course, students report, write, shoot and edit television news stories, and serve as on-air anchors, in-studio camera operators, producers, directors, technical crew and social media managers. All three programs are produced at WVU's professional television studio.
“WVU News” reporters cover events on the University campus and in the Morgantown community. This Emmy-winning production is part of the Advanced Television Reporting and Producing course co-taught by Teaching Associate Professor Ashton Marra and Teaching Assistant Professor Anjelica Trinone, with assistance from Associate Dean of Student Success and Teaching Professor Gina Dahlia.
“‘WVU News’ placing in the top three college newscasts in America means that our students are in the top 20% of more than 2,000 entries,” said Dahlia. “As someone who has taught the newscast class for more than 20 years, I can attest that the stakes get higher and the competition gets bigger every year. So, this recognition is a true testament to the quality of our students and faculty.”
The spring 2025 cast and crew of "Mountaineer Playbook."
“Mountaineer Playbook” is the capstone course for the College’s Sports and Adventure Media major and is also taught by Trinone, along with Shott Teaching Assistant Professor Chuck Scatterday. The student-produced show was added to the College’s curriculum in 2021 and focuses on sports video reporting and production and includes in-the-field reporting to cover all 18 Division I WVU athletic teams. “Mountaineer Playbook” won its first regional Emmy in 2025.
“It’s rewarding to see our students recognized at the national level because it reflects how our program continues to grow with the industry,” said Trinone. “We’ve placed a stronger emphasis on social media storytelling, which led to a third-place finish, while our program’s focus on video editing and storytelling helped several students earn individual awards.”
“Participating in the BEA judging process has helped to elevate the WVU Sports and Adventure Media students onto the national stage,” Scatterday said.
The fall 2025 cast and crew of "Mountaineer Playbook."
“West Virginia Today” is a public affairs show in which students provide professional-quality coverage of issues that matter to communities across the state, from politics and public policy to education, health and culture.
McClung’s first place win for his package “Referees” marked an important milestone for the show.
“This is the first year that our public affairs show, ‘West Virginia Today,’ has been honored with awards from the Student Festival of Media Arts competition, and I am proud of the work these students produced to be recognized nationally,” said Ashton Marra, teaching assistant professor of Journalism. “‘West Virginia Today’ challenges them to work in new and different reporting styles, and these awards prove that our students are not just talented storytellers, but visual journalists as well.”
McClung, a second-year graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in journalism, is the main anchor for “West Virginia Today,” though he’s worked on “WVU News” and “Mountaineer Playbook” in the past.
The 2025 cast and crew of "West Virginia Today."
The fall 2025 cast and crew began the semester sharing stories related to the previous session of the West Virginia Legislature. McClung created a package about Senate Bill 531, which would have increased the penalties for assault and battery against a sports official but was vetoed by Gov. Patrick Morissey.
The matter was a personal one for McClung: He referees for the recreational soccer league in Boone County, West Virginia.
“As a referee, I have had firsthand experience dealing with verbal abuse and harassment from parents, coaches and players, even once being followed to my car after a competitive match,” he said.
“A good package tells you facts, but a great one tells a story. ‘Referees’ is people-driven and it reflects a growing real-world problem that often gets overlooked. I was able to go across the state and speak to other referees and athletic officials about their experiences,” McClung added.
He’s honored by the win, not just because of what it represents for his personal success, but because it’s indicative of the hard work and quality content produced by everyone in the program. It also shows just how well Reed instructors prepare students like McClung for a future in journalism.
“I'm very happy that I could represent the Reed School, College of Creative Arts and Media and WVU in this way,” he said.
“WVU News,” “Mountaineer Playbook” and “West Viginia Today” episodes are produced biweekly. Viewers can watch on West Virginia Public Broadcasting, KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh, the City of Morgantown’s Public Access Channel and on HD Media's website. You can also watch current and past episodes online at journalism.wvu.edu and on YouTube @WVUReedSchool.