Newhouse Syracuse University winners recognized at the BEA Awards
The 2026 Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Awards recognized 426 students and 48 faculty members for entries across categories including audio, documentary, film and video, interactive media and emerging technologies, news, scriptwriting and sports.
The BEA hosts an annual convention featuring more than 250 sessions on media pedagogy, networking events, hands-on technology workshops, research, creative scholarship and the Festival of Media Arts. The convention is co-located with NAB Show each April in Las Vegas.
Syracuse University students Griffin Bloomstein and Nathaniel Cunningham took first place in the Video News Program category for their Syracuse Women’s Soccer vs. Cornell Pregame Show.
“The work we’re able to do at Newhouse with our ACC Network Studio Shows is unlike anything else across the country,” Bloomstein said, “It was awesome to talk with other college students and professors and hear how they try to create shows but can’t match our production quality.”
Nathaniel Cunningham shares his thoughts on the convention environment and energy.
“The energy there was incredible with the amount of people from all parts of the country. It didn’t matter if it was students or faculty, for three days it felt like a bunch of people who were all doing the same thing — coming together to talk about broadcast and our love for it. For me the award is really an acknowledgement of the hard work that goes into making TV. It’s awesome to know that the process is working and that anyone who comes to Newhouse has the ability to make work that gets recognized at the national level. I think it’s just a testament to what Newhouse is so good at and that is getting us ready for the industry” says Cunningham.
Bloomstein also spoke to the significance of the award for his team.
“Getting this award means a lot to me, but more importantly, it’s a real testament to the work that our whole production crew, leadership team and on-air talent put into every studio show,” Bloomstein shared, “Nothing could be done without all of their hard work and dedication, along with that of Professor Stomski. This pushes us to strive for more recognition on a national level. Newhouse has been the best communications school for decades, and it’s time for the rest of the country to be reminded of that.”
Jordan Kligerman, assistant professor of television, radio and film at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, won the Long Form Sports Video category alongside Austin Beehner, Mike Lang and Richard Wiesmann for their project “Authentic ACC: Syracuse Spring Football.”
Professor Kligerman shared his thought process on creating the project.
“Teaching sports documentary is the best thing for me as a filmmaker because there comes a point in ones career when you’re doing things without really thinking about why you are doing them.” Kligerman says,” I think I have gotten into my own style of storytelling, but I leaned on the same things I teach students in sports documentary. I think about ‘Who are my characters? What are my locations? What is the overarching story arc of this project? What are the hidden story arcs in each segment or scene?’ I really wanted to make this a film of scenes, not interviews with B-roll.”
Collectively, from students to faculty, Newhouse provides opportunities for every individual to practice and apply their communication and storytelling skills. The Newhouse Sports Media Center proudly acknowledges the dedication and passion of the individuals that make Newhouse remarkable.