FTC Mass Comm Students Nominated for Six IBS Media Awards
By Madelyn Llanes, Tyler Guerrero, and Kate Miller
The 2023-2024 Intercollegiate Broadcast System (IBS) Award nominations were announced this week, and Five Towns College students picked up six nominations, a Mass Comm program record.
“I’m so proud of our students. This is a national competition and they’ve really worked hard in and out of class to get these nominations. It really shows that students from a tiny school like Five Towns can measure up against students from any school,” said Mass Communication Chair Holli Haerr.
Since its inception in 1940, IBS has been led by volunteers passionate about student media.
FTC’s nominations include:
- Best Sports Play-By-Play (Men’s Basketball): Aaron McLaughlin and Sydney Mountain “Damani Merritt 1000 Point Game”
- Best Program Promotion: Chrissie Pastrana and Alexis Mack “Media Arts Show”
- Best Radio News Director: Aaron McLaughlin
- Best Sports Report: James Miller “High School Girls Flag Football on the Rise”
- Best TV Sports Director: James Miller
- Best Sports Pre/Post Game: Intermediate TV Lab “HVIAC Tournament Women’s Pre-Show”
Five Towns College students were proud to be recognized for the prestigious awards.
“It’s an honor to be considered for a nomination, especially considering the number and level of schools we are competing against,” said James Miller, who is nominated for Best TV Sports Director and Best Sports Report. Miller is President and Co-Founder of the FTC Sports Broadcasting Club and is currently interning at MSG.
Mass Comm student-athlete Sydney Mountain played on the women’s basketball team and has had more time to sharpen her anchoring skills since an injury kept her off the court. Mountain’s basketball knowledge was key as she is nominated for Best Sports Play-by-Play and the “HVIAC Tournament Women’s Pre-Show” along with Aaron McLaughlin, who also received a nod for Best Radio News Director. Mountain credits the combination and production and on-air instruction she has received since her first semester on campus.
“Being nominated alongside Seton Hall and Arizona State University is a pretty big accomplishment for a small school. To be a small school with under 600 students compared to other schools around the country with thousands of kids who do these things every day is a really big thing for me. I’m actually really proud of what my co-host Aaron [McLaughlin] and I have done to get into a position to make it because that just shows our hard work.”
Five Towns students also showed their visual and musical creativity with a Best Show Promotion nomination.
“Alexis [Mack] and I really came together. With her music and with my editing skills, we molded our skills together, and we made something really great. And honestly, it’s an honor to be nominated.”
Mack agreed, saying, “It’s a good time to be a Mass Communications student. It’s nice to be nominated with my peers”.
IBS Media Awards winners will be announced at the annual IBSNYC 2024 Conference on March 2nd at the Sheraton Times Square in New York City.
FTC Broadcast Journalism class contributed reporting.
