Cronkite School heroin documentary nominated for Rocky Mountain Emmy

A statewide TV special exploring the escalating and deadly problem of heroin use in Arizona, created by Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, has been nominated for a Rocky Mountain Emmy Award — the region’s premier professional television award.

The Cronkite School regularly dominates the Student Production Awards given by the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and this year is no exception. Cronkite students took more than half of this year’s student nominations — 17 out of 26.

But a Cronkite production has never been nominated for an Emmy Award. “Hooked: Tracking Heroin’s Hold on Arizona,” produced by the Cronkite School in partnership with the Arizona Broadcasters Association, has been nominated in the category of Societal Concerns — Program/Special. Additionally, the NATAS announced last month that the Cronkite School and the ABA will receive the prestigious Governors’ Award for “Hooked,” marking the first time a journalism school has won the honor typically reserved for professional media organizations.

The Rocky Mountain Emmy-nominated “Hooked,” which reached more than 1 million Arizonans, traces the rise of heroin use and its impact in Arizona. More than 70 students and eight faculty members at the Cronkite School worked on the project under the direction of Cronkite professor Jacquee Petchel, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist.

“We are tremendously proud of our talented students and inspiring professors who created this important piece of journalism, which we hope will continue to have a positive impact on our community,” said Christopher Callahan, dean of the Cronkite School and CEO of Arizona PBS.

Arizona PBS, which became part of the Cronkite School a year ago, is nominated for four Rocky Mountain Emmys. The station, which includes three TV channels and arizonapbs.org, serves as a journalistic “teaching hospital” for ASU students as well as a test bed for innovation and experimentation within the industry.

Arizona PBS productions, including "ArtBeat Nation," "Check, Please! Arizona" and "Horizonte," received Rocky Mountain Emmy nominations. In all, 10 members from Arizona PBS received nominations among four different categories, including arts/entertainment, interview/discussion, community affairs and lighting.

In the Student Production Awards, Cronkite students earned nominations for Cronkite News, the news division of Arizona PBS, which includes a weekday broadcast reaching 1.9 million households, a robust news website and reporting bureaus in Phoenix, Washington and Los Angeles. The Cronkite School swept the Newscast category with Cronkite News and The Deaf and Hearing Network — an innovative newscast that bridges the gap between the deaf and hearing communities — both receiving nominations.

This year’s Rocky Mountain Emmy and Student Production Awards ceremony will take place Oct. 17 at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale.

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is a professional service organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, educational and technical achievements within the television industry. The Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter, formed in 1959, represents Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and El Centro, California.

Rocky Mountain Emmy Nominations

Societal Concerns – Program/Special

Jacquee Petchel, Mark Lodato, Erin Patrick O’Connor, Elizabeth Blackburn and Sean Logan
“Hooked: Tracking Heroin’s Hold on Arizona”
Cronkite News

Arts/Entertainment – Program Feature – Segment

Jennifer Burke
“Alabaster Stone Carvers”
ArtBeat Nation

Interview/Discussion – Program/Special or Series

Kelly McCullough, Nancy Southgate, Suzanne Guery, Mark Harms, Angela Steele, Robert McGrath and Scott Wallin
Check, Please! Arizona

Public/Current/Community Affairs – Program/Special

Laarni Fernandez Nuez
Horizonte

Lighting – Location or Studio

Scot Olson
Lighting composite project
Arizona PBS

Student Production Award Nominations

Newscast

Peyton Gallovich and Melissa Yingst Huber
DHN: The Deaf and Hearing Network

Shannon Scharrer
Cronkite News – Jan. 26, 2015 newscast

News: General Assignment

Angelie Meehan
“All Arizona EMTs and Police Officers May Soon Be Able to Administer a Life-saving Drug Arizona State”
Cronkite News

Megan Thompson
“Old-fashioned Dairy Farm”
Cronkite News

Jamie Warren
“Phoenix Neighbors Protest 20-acre Medical Marijuana Cultivation Center”
Cronkite News

Mackenzie Scott
“Same-sex Marriage Now Legal in Arizona”
Cronkite News

Peyton Gallovich and Melissa Yingst Huber
“The Man Accused of Pretending to Interpret Is Actually Certified”
DHN: The Deaf and Hearing Network

Long Form: Fiction/Non-Fiction

Maria Thompson, Florentino Luna and John Martinez
“Good as Gold”

Mauricio Casillas, Carolina Marquez and Cammeron Neely
“Until the Southern Border is Secure”
Documentary

Sports

Kari Osep
"Concussions: It's a Girl Thing, Too"
Cronkite Sports on FOX Sports Arizona

Kari Osep
“Greener Side of Golf”
Cronkite Sports on FOX Sports Arizona

Public Affairs/Community Service

Peyton Gallovich, Melissa Yingst Huber
“#WhoWillAnswer Domestic Violence Awareness Campaign”
DHN: The Deaf and Hearing Network

Kassandra Gonzalez, Kristen Hwang and Jacob Tibi
“Thicker Than Water”
Documentary

Photographer

Kari Osep
“Greener Side of Golf”
Cronkite Sports on FOX Sports Arizona

Talent

Jamie Warren
Anchor/reporter reel
Cronkite News

Ryan Hill
Anchor/reporter reel
Cronkite News

Video Essay (Single Camera only)

Laura Sposato
“The Annual Mexican Grey Wolf Count”
Cronkite News