WSC Graduate Gage Dawson Takes Fourth Place at Broadcasting Convention

Gage Dawson

Wayne State College graduate Gage Dawson of Neligh finished fourth in the Best TV Promo category during the College Broadcasters, Inc. (CBI) National Student Production Awards held Oct. 23-26 in Seattle.

Dawson graduated from Wayne State in May with a bachelor of arts degree in Mass Communication/Electronic Media. In March, Dawson also won a Golden Leaf Award for first place in the Best Video TV Sports Story category during the Northern Plains Collegiate Media Association’s (NPCMA) conference.

“For Gage to finish fourth in the country says a lot for the work he's produced, as well as what can be done right here at Wayne State College,” said Pat Janssen, a lecturer in Wayne State’s Communication Arts Department. “This is the second straight year our Mass Communications department has been represented with a finalist nationally. So many of our students work hard in all areas of media, with many of them doing great work for radio, TV, print media, social media, and film. I love seeing the effort and passion our students put forward.”

“It was a pleasure to watch all of our students at the convention take in so much knowledge and network with so many fellow college media members,” added Janssen. “They were fantastic representatives of Wayne State College.”

The National Student Production Awards provide a unique opportunity for students to showcase their work in a nationally recognized competition, with 29 college categories in audio, video, and multimedia and four Visual Media Festival categories.

In addition to Dawson’s award, other Wayne State students served on various panels at the convention. Becca Arkfeld of Battle Creek served on the “Curating the Sound of Your Station” panel, and Grant Ferrell of Lincoln was on a roundtable discussion about news.

Janssen also served on a panel titled “Election On-Air Strategy,” and Dr. Sean X. Ahern, associate professor of communication arts at Wayne State, was on a panel titled “Working with Your Administration.”

“The various convention panels offered us the opportunity to learn news strategies to promote student media at KWSC-FM and KWSC-TV,” said Ahern. “They also gave us the opportunity to talk to media companies across the country during the convention’s career fair.”

Other Wayne State students attending the convention were Quin Otto of Osceola and Jasmine Snyder of Fairbury.

For more information about Wayne State’s Communication Arts Department, visit www.wsc.edu/commarts.