Cronkite Student Named Top Collegiate TV Reporter

A student from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication has been named the top collegiate television reporter in the United States.

Senior Ian Schwartz of Mesa won the Best of Festival Television News Reporting award, the highest student recognition given by the Broadcast Education Association in the nationwide competition. Schwartz will receive the award on April 28 at BEA’s annual meeting in Las Vegas.

Schwartz is a reporter for the award-winning student newscast ASU NewsWatch and also is an intern at KNXV-TV/ABC15, where he works with The Investigators.

His award-winning portfolio included stories about parking fee increases at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix and a feature about a growing race car competition called “drifting,” where racers drift into their turns at high rates of speed.

“Ian is truly representative of the best of the Cronkite School,” said Dean Christopher Callahan. “His reporting is accurate and thorough, and his writing is clear and crisp. We’re very proud of Ian and all he has accomplished.”

Schwartz’s Best of Festival Television News Reporting award follows three consecutive years in which a Cronkite School student won the nation’s Best Radio Reporter award from the BEA.

The Broadcast Education Association is the professional association for professors, industry professionals and graduate students who are interested in teaching and research related to electronic media and multimedia enterprises. There are more than 1,400 individual and institutional members. More than 250 universities and colleges are members of the BEA.