Broadcast news media students Alyson Caffrey (center left) and Maren Cline (center right) each took home an award at the 2019 International Digital Media and Broadcast Competition. (Courtesy of Alyson Caffrey)
BYU news media students Alyson Caffrey and Maren Cline placed in the Broadcast Education Association 2019 International Digital Media and Broadcast Competition.
Cline took home third place in the TV hard news category for her segment on Facebook scams and Caffrey won first place in the TV news anchor category.
“My reaction was one of excitement and shock,” said Caffery. “I felt this huge sense of pride that I was able to carry on the tradition of excellence at BYU and specifically in the broadcast program.”
Caffrey’s award wasn’t based on a single story or segment but rather her work as a collegiate anchor in general. She had to pull various clips together from a year of anchoring to create an anchor reel. The reel featured Caffrey’s best moments, including show openings for BYU’s Newsline, breaking news, and a clip of all the Newsline anchors eating pie for National Pie Day.
Caffrey said that the thing that set her anchoring apart from the other contestants was the quality of the BYU newscasts and all the students that make it possible, from the writers and producer to the students running the switchboards and cameras.
“Without all of them, I would not have been able to receive this award,” said Caffrey.
The award also took a lot of hard work on Caffrey’s part. Her anchor position is an unpaid position that she had to balance on top of other duties.
Caffrey said: “Being an anchor for the BYU newscast is a big time commitment, you can’t work or take other classes during the rehearsals and live show. You have to come and be all ready to go on air in a dress and your hair done and makeup all finished — I will admit to walking to campus with curlers still in my hair, some days I even practiced in them and only took them out right before we went live! But I love it!”
Although her experience as a volunteer student anchor has been demanding, Caffrey says it has laid the groundwork for her future career.
“I am so proud to have won this award for myself and all the work I put into anchoring, but also to show how great the entire BYU newsroom is,” said Caffrey. “I can’t wait to add it to my resume and go anchor in another newsroom in America! You’ll see me on the news again somewhere!”