UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A TV newscast produced by Penn State students was named the nation’s best — earning the equivalent of an Emmy Award for college television and maintaining a tradition of excellence for student-produced programming — during the 37th College Television Awards in Hollywood.
The Nov. 20, 2015, episode of “Centre County Report,” a weekly newscast produced by Penn State students, included segments about the local response to terrorist attacks in Paris, bomb threats at a local high school, a crackdown on “tourist homes” in State College and a one-on-one interview with Penn State football coach James Franklin.
VIDEO Award-Winning Episode: "Centre County Report" (Nov. 20, 2015)
It was the second year in a row a student-produced show earned a top honor at the College Television Awards. Last year, a special, hourlong episode of “Centre County Report” was named Outstanding Magazine Show. This year, “CCR” finished second in that category with a special driven by an international reporting class’s trip to Hong Kong.
The top-finish for newscast marked the third time in the past five years “Centre County Report” has been named the nation’s best by national organizations. In 2012 and 2013, the Broadcast Education Association named “CCR” the nation’s top college newscast, and the show finished second in that category earlier this year — maintaining a tradition of sustained excellence for student-produced programming in the College of Communications.
“Centre County Report,” produced as part of a capstone journalism course, expanded during the recently completed spring semester. Separate editions of the newscast air at noon Tuesday and Friday on Campus Cable. Those same newscasts reach 530,000 households in 29 Pennsylvania counties through of a partnership with WPSU-TV.
The Television Academy Foundation is the charitable arm of the Television Academy, which coordinates the Primetime Emmys. The foundation conducts an internship program, presents faculty seminars and provides college scholarships as part of its mission to preserve and celebrate the history of television while educating and inspiring those who will shape its future.