Berry College’s Student Media Outlets Named Best in the Country

 

Berry College’s student media outlets and the Department of Communication have once again demonstrated their commitment to excellence and innovation by garnering a record-setting haul of top awards from the College Media Association.

The Pinnacle Awards recognized Berry’s Viking Fusion, the dynamic student-run multimedia website, with two top honors: “College Media Group of the Year” and “TV Station of the Year.” Notably, this marks the third time that Viking Fusion has been recognized as “TV Station of the Year,” following wins in 2022 and 2016.

Berry’s popular lifestyle magazine, Valkyrie, achieved distinction by being named “Feature Magazine of the Year.” Berry’s literary magazine, Ramifications, secured third place in the “Literary Magazine of the Year” category for the second year in a row, while the Campus Carrier also claimed third place as “Weekly Newspaper of the Year.”

“It’s unprecedented in my 12 years as an adviser to see every student media outlet at one college recognized for the top award in the same year,” said Viking Fusion Adviser Steven Hames. “For this historic precedent to recognize our students and their work is profoundly gratifying, and I know I speak for the entire department.”

In addition to these collective accolades, student media outlets and the Department of Communication earned a remarkable nine individual Pinnacle Awards, including four first-place recognitions, which sets a record for student media and the department.

In addition to the Pinnacle Awards, College Media Association recognized two podcasts from Viking Fusion as part of their Film and Audio Festival. Separately, College Broadcasters, Inc.’s National Student Production Awards recognized Viking Fusion and the Department of Communication in three categories.

Recent graduate Grace Snell’s documentary podcast series “Georgia v. Foster” placed first for Best Podcast in  the Pinnacle Awards, third for Best Audio Documentary in the Film and Audio Festival, and third for Best Audio Documentary in the College Broadcasters’ National Student Production Awards. The series investigates the struggle for justice when the death penalty is on the line.

Additionally “The Abyss,” a suspense podcast, created by senior Emma Buoni, about a detective that must face her fear of the ocean while investigating a disappearance, placed first in Audio Creative category for the Film and Audio Festival, as well as second place for Best Audio Talk/Entertainment Program in the Pinnacle Awards.

Other top finishers include:

• 1^st Place, Best Coverage of Faith, Jasmynn Innis, for “Galway’s Houses of Worship Adapt as Church’s Influence Wanes”
• 1^st Place, Best Photo Illustration, Hannah Fischer and Mads Muraoka, for “Silent Crisis: Men’s Mental Health”
• 1^st Place, Best Short (sub-3 min) Video/Entertainment, Viking Fusion Production Team, for “Promo 2022”
• 2^nd Place, Best Multimedia Feature Story, recent graduate? Parker Luellen for “Galway artists say Celtic tattoos not cultural appropriation”
• 3^rd Place, Best Video Entertainment Program, recent graduates Matt Parks and Phillip Walker , for “Funny Pages: Murdercast”
• Honorable Mention, Best Feature Story, Katelynn Singleton and Sam Askew, for “Walk a mile in her lab coat: STEM professors share their experiences in the field”
• Honorable Mention, Best Sports Multimedia Story, Abby Grace Shrader , for “Sports and Pubs Unite Fans in Galway, Ireland”