Alt.news wins two Emmys

A 30-minute documentary shedding light on the inside world of the Marion Penitentiary and an episode featuring a variety of subjects including SIUC flag master each earned national awards for the University's Alt.news student crew.

For the second time in two years, Alt.news received student Emmys from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences-where thousands of college film groups across the country submit a variety of film and television work-bringing the group's Emmy count to 12.

"Waiting for Time: The Lives of USP Marion," which began production in March, looks into how the super-maximum security prison operates, featuring revealing interviews with several inmates serving life sentences as well as interviews with the facility's officials. The episode aired last semester and again in January on Chicago's Public Broadcasting Corporation station.

"We love competition and in the last two years, we haven't placed in the Emmys even though we've submitted so we're extremely happy we were able to place again," said Jon Hayes, co-executive producer of the documentary episode. Hayes, along with the rest of the crew, will attend the Los Angeles awards ceremony in March to formally receive the third-place Emmys in front of an audience of film and television industry professionals.

Among the competition, Alt.news went up against colleges including the University of Southern California and the University of California-Berkeley. During the awards ceremony, the group will meet up with SIUC alumni who were also involved in Alt.news and continue to work in the field to celebrate the organization's ten-year anniversary.

What used to be a five-minute feature segment on WSIU-TV's River Region news broadcast, has now developed into its own 26-minute, 46-second show under the helm of creators Michael Cioni and Ian Vertovec. In 1999, the group earned its first Emmy and has since been stacking up on national and even international honors.

"We're not about winning the awards at all, but a long time ago precedents were started by the creators of Alt.news so we always like to keep up with them," Hayes said.

Alt.news episode '603' earned the third place ranking in the news magazine show category. The show features segments including the story of flag master Bob Reid, the life of a stand-up comic and a closer look into the world of adult entertainment. Students Catrina Marsh and Jared Kagel produced the episode.

"Part of the show's evolution has been in finding good stories," said Simon Edelman, co-executive producer of the documentary episode. "We've started to go more toward stories that are intriguing."