Medill students and faculty win Chicago/Midwest Emmys

Nov. 19, 2012

Medill students and faculty members won three Chicago/Midwest Emmy Awards on Nov. 18. Northwestern News Network won the Best Newscast category for the third consecutive year. Current Medill students and alumni, including Kayla Stoner, Stephen Boyle, Allyson Byers, Priyanka Tilve, Justin Schecker, Alanna Autler, Elizabeth Schulze, Catherine Reid, Sharon Yoo, Ed Demaria, Eric Feldman, Sam Rong, Cody Dunlap, and Joseph Lautrup were all part of the winning news team for their May 23 show.

“It feels great to have their work consistently recognized as some of the best reporting and producing in the country, and you have to remember, the students all volunteer their time,” said Assistant Professor Larry Stuelpnagel, faculty adviser to NNN. “They do it because they love the work and the challenge of producing a great newscast. This kind of dedication deserves the recognition it has received.”

Recent graduates Kaitlyn Laabs and Eryn Rogers received an Emmy in the student long form (fiction/non-fiction) category for their documentary, Borrowed Time. The documentary was made as an assignment for Assistant Professor Brent Huffman’s documentary class.

“Kaitlyn and Eryn are very brave, ambitious, and passionate students who worked outside their comfort zones to make this incredible film,” Huffman said. “I am very proud of the work they put into this. ”Borrowed Time is the story of a young man in Chicago trying to prevent joining gang life. The documentary is the result of the makers spending a lot of time with the subject, his friends and family to chronicle his life.

“It is very gratifying to have a documentary made in a 10-week class be honored this way and it means a lot to the students and to their careers,” Huffman said.

Assistant Professor Beth Bennett and adjunct lecturer Michael Sternoff won an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement for Documentary Programs – Topical. Their winning documentary is called Kindred.Kindred is the story of Kindra McLennan, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cervical cancer at the age of 29.  She chronicled her fight against cancer through writing a blog, Bennett said. “It was honest, brave and often very funny. Kindra used the blog as a way to keep her friends and family updated, but it evolved into much more
than that.”

Bennett acknowledged the hard work of Sternoff and McLennan.

“My co-producer and director, Mike Sternoff, knew Kindra personally,” Bennett said. “I think for him, creating this film was an act of storytelling and also a tribute to Kindra. I'm so glad to see Mike's efforts and hard work recognized. In a sense, Kindra's work is recognized here as well, since her writing was the backbone of the film.”