Five USU Student Production Award Nominations from Semester Projects

LOGAN – Students studying media production in the Department of Communication were nominated five times for the regional 2026 Student Production Awards.

Two Pressroom students, River Rock and Avonlea Woodward, were nominated for their work in the Solo Storyteller and Arts / Entertainment / Cultural Affairs.

Rock used a drone, ENG camera, and phone to capture the moment one team trained for a new Olympic sport, ski mountaineering, or “SKIMO.”

“I loved getting involved in the community,” Rock said. “It was so cool to give attention to what these kids are doing and help out a local team.”

His story was featured on ABC4.

Woodward, an exchange student from Austria, picked up the camera for the first time, learning to shoot and edit video, and write stories all in one semester.

It was challenging, but Woodward was eager to learn. She ended up publishing five video stories with multiple outlets.

“You actually get to go and produce, work on your stories, instead of just sitting down and reading about it. It’s a super cool feeling,” Woodward said. “It showed me that I really like journalism and that I’d really like to be on TV. It gave me such a passion for this field that I already knew I kind of liked but didn’t know I’d like it that much. It was really cool.” 

Her story, “Healing Through Dancing,” highlighting USU’s long-standing POWWOW, was nominated.

Newscast students Alici Archibald and Kaylee Moss were nominated for their work in Hard News reporting and for producing a Magazine Program.

Recent graduate Archibald, who produces for NewsNation’s Katie Pavlich Tonight, was nominated for her series “After Assassination,” covering the response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University.

“It feels like a full-circle moment – almost a year after Charlie Kirk’s assassination – where I am now working on a show for a friend of his,” Archibald said. “I feel honored that I reported on such a pivotal moment in our country… I loved sharing how a tragic event brought out the best in people and inspired them to be better.”

Moss was nominated in two categories for her work covering the Deserae Turner Bill and producing the Cache Rendezvous: Are We Okay?

Moss is a social media content producer with KSL5 News.

The Rocky Mountain Southwest National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Chapter nominates college students every year for its regional competition spanning Arizona, Utah, Southeastern California, and New Mexico.

After student work is submitted, a panel of professional journalists judges and then nominates exceptional stories.  

Nominees are invited to a regional award ceremony on September 19, where they can be awarded the Student Production Award.