Honors College alumna earns prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award
Student-produced documentary by honors college alumni Shawna Mann honored with esteemed journalism award.
Courtney Grable |
Honors College alumna, Shawna Mann (’23) (left), with Demetria Kalodimos, professional-in-residence in the School of Communication and longtime WSMV anchor in Nashville (right).
Honors College alumna, Shawna Mann (’23), was one of four students on the production team of The Grand Ole Guitar, an 18-minute documentary about the history of the Nashville Sounds’ iconic guitar-shaped scoreboard, selected to receive a prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award, one of the most esteemed honors in the journalism industry.
Mann and her group joined students from seven other institutions nationwide to be honored this year with a Murrow Award. Among the other institutions recognized in addition to Lipscomb is The Cronkite School at Arizona State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Loyola University New Orleans and the University of Florida.
“When starting this documentary project my classmates and I never imagined the places it would take us,” said Mann, who graduated with a major in journalism and new media and a minor in piano. “To be awarded a student Murrow award is surreal.”
The Murrow awards are the embodiment of the values, principles and standards set forth by Edward R. Murrow, a journalism pioneer who set the standards for the highest quality of broadcast journalism.
Demetria Kalodimos, professional-in-residence in the School of Communication and longtime WSMV anchor in Nashville, dreamed up the idea for the documentary, which would be a deep dive into the history of the historic guitar shaped scoreboard from the Nashville Sounds baseball stadium. The documentary brings the audience along for a journey through time telling the story of the iconic scoreboard.
Communication students Shawna Mann, Spencer Barnabee, Emma Shanahan and May graduate Kahwit Tela presented a documentary about the fames Nashville Sounds' guitar scoreboard.
The student-produced team was in charge of quickly developing a plan for producing the documentary including interviewing sources, finding historical visuals of the scoreboard, capturing game footage and weaving the story together. Mann and her team had about two months to produce a documentary about the beloved Nashville icon.
“The most incredible part about working on that project and receiving the award was the valuable teamwork to put the film together,” says Mann. “The idea came from Kalodimos and she led the students, but we all shared the shooting, editing, scripting and interviewing work. It was pure collaboration and all of us worked together, learning as we went and sharpening our skills.”
Throughout the project, the team worked alongside numerous experts in both the production field and the baseball world and had the opportunity to present at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
“To be honest, I am truly independent and sometimes I think if I can do it myself, it would just be faster, “ Mann admits. “On this project, I learned that only by collaboration and working together can you create something even bigger and better.”
The skills Mann learned while working on the documentary have carried over into her current position as communications coordinator and video content creator at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville, where she does much of the filming, interviewing, collecting B-roll, photography and copywriting for the web and social media.
As she reflects on her time at Lipscomb, Mann says the honors college played an integral role in preparing her for her career and connecting her with her community. The honors courses pushed her to learn new things from a variety of subjects, while at the same time, bonding the students together in solidarity, she said. She met her best friend and roommate in her very first honors Lipscomb experience course.
There were also numerous professors who inspired her as she moved forward in her academic journey. “I am forever grateful for Paul Prill, retired director of the Honors College, and the way that he poured into my life,” remarks Mann. “He gave me the nickname Pixie, because he said I was always flitting around with people gathered around me. It’s true, I am an extrovert in the extreme.”
“I wouldn’t be who I am without my professors at Lipscomb. It was the mentoring of Demetria Kalodimos and her letter of recommendation that I feel helped me get the job I love. I would advise all current students to take advantage of the working professors and the guest speakers, as well as your full-time faculty, but don’t forget the adjunct professors who are doing work in their businesses outside of the university. They brought me into their projects and helped me grow in my abilities.”
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