Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication ranked as the top overall school in the Broadcast Education Association’s (BEA) first ranking of schools based on the creative achievement of their students.
The Cronkite School ranked number one in the Overall Programs category, as well as for Sports and News programs. Cronkite also placed second in Documentary Programs, and fifth in Audio Programs and Interactive Multimedia & Emerging Technology.
“This recognition is a reflection of the hard work and talent shown by our amazing students, who continue to produce some of the best video, audio and multimedia projects in the country,” said Cronkite School Dean Battinto L. Batts Jr. “Their dedication, along with the guidance of our faculty members, are a major reason why the Cronkite School is one of the best journalism schools in the country.”
The rankings are based on the results from the past five years from the BEA Festival of Media Arts contest, which is known as the preeminent international media competition focused on student and faculty creative endeavors. During that time, nearly 6,000 student creative works were submitted from BEA’s more than 300 member institutions around the globe for BEA’s extensive juried process.
In recent years, the Cronkite School has dominated the BEA Festival of Media Arts contest. Cronkite won 26 awards in the 2021 contest, including seven first-place prizes, marking the 11th time in 12 years that the Cronkite School has finished ahead of other colleges around the country, including winning the most news division awards.
The BEA rankings take a unique approach to the evaluation of academic media programs from across the globe. Instead of being an overall evaluation of an academic unit’s curriculum and structure, a comparison of institutions is done by looking at outcomes. Those outcomes are the quality and consistency of students’ creative works from one participating institution as compared to others. While BEA has been systematically evaluating student work for more than 30 years, the annual rankings are based on the past five-year period of student success.
In the “2022 BEA Festival School Rankings,” 170 schools are represented with student winners. The statistics are compiled and confirmed by the BEA Festival Advisory Committee, which is made up of past Festival Chairs and Creative Directors.
About the Cronkite School
The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University is widely recognized as one of the nation’s premier professional journalism programs and has received international acclaim for its innovative use of the “teaching hospital” model. Rooted in the time-honored values that characterize its namesake — accuracy, responsibility, objectivity, integrity — the school fosters journalistic excellence and ethics in both the classroom and in its 13 professional programs that fully immerse students in the practice of journalism and related fields. Arizona PBS, one of the nation’s largest public television stations, is part of Cronkite, making it the largest media outlet operated by a journalism school in the world. Learn more at cronkite.asu.edu.
About the Broadcast Education Association (BEA)
BEA is the premiere international academic media organization, driving insights, excellence in media production, and career advancement for educators, students, and professionals. There are currently more than 2,000 individual and institutional members worldwide. Visit www.beaweb.org for more information.
About the Festival of Media Arts
The Festival of Media Arts was created and is organized by BEA faculty across the globe to honor the amazing works of both students and faculty. It is an international refereed exhibition of faculty and student creative activities and provides a venue for exhibition of winning submissions, including recognition of project authors, through showcase and awards sessions held during BEA’s annual convention in Las Vegas. The Festival seeks to enhance and extend creative activities, teaching, and professional standards in broadcasting and other forms of electronically mediated communication. Over $19,000 in prizes is awarded each year, thanks to the generous longtime sponsorship of the Foundation and the continued Diana King Memorial Endowment. The Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation was established in 1988 to support individuals, institutions and organizations committed to educational excellence and professional development.
Visit www.beafestival.org for more information.