BY CHRIS TAYLOR | Senior Director | Ball State Sports Link

Ball State Sports Link’s feature story Dear Teddy, produced by Tyler Bradfield and Connor Nichols, earned a prestigious national honor in 2017 when it was selected to receive the Broadcast Education Association’s Best of Festival King Foundation Award.  

The Best of Festival King Foundation Award is the top award given during BEA’s Festival of Media Arts, a competitive festival open to BEA faculty and student members.

Dear Teddy won the overall students sports competition and was one of just 17 Best of Festival winners selected from a pool of over 1,450 entries, representing over 175 colleges and universities in the following competitions: audio, documentary, interactive multimedia, news, scriptwriting, sports, two-year/small colleges and video.

The 2017 honor marks just the third time Ball State students have won the “Best of” award and the second time in the last five years Sports Link has earned the top honor.

In 2012, Sports Link’s feature story Tarblooder Mission, produced by Ben Wagner, Chris Renkel and Joe Sailer, also earned the recognition.

The #SLFeatured Dear Teddy tells the remarkable story of Ball State Football’s Teddy Williamson, who graduated a semester early in December with a degree in finance.

Williamson’s father, Ted Sr., was incarcerated in federal prison for drug trafficking and never saw his son play football in high school or college until Teddy’s junior year at Ball State.

Best of Festival winners will be honored at the 15th Annual BEA Best of Festival King Foundation Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas on April 24 as part of BEA’s annual convention.

During the ceremony, recipients will be recognized with a specialized screening of their winning project and a cash award of $1,000 from the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation.

About the Broadcast Education Association: The Broadcast Education Association (BEA) is the premiere international academic media organization, driving insights, excellence in media production, and career advancement for educators, students, and professionals.  There are currently more than 2,500 individual and institutional members worldwide. Visit www.beaweb.org for more information.

About the BEA Convention: BEA’s annual convention is held in conjunction with NAB Show in Las Vegas every spring.  Co-located next door at the Las Vegas Westgate, BEA’s annual convention attracts 1,300 educators and students with 200 sessions, events, research panels, technology workshops and an exhibit hall, making BEA NAB Show’s largest conference partner. Click here for more information.

About the Festival of Media Arts: The BEA Festival of Media Arts is an international refereed exhibition of faculty creative activities and a national showcase for student work. The Festival provides a venue for exhibition of winning submissions, including recognition of project authors, through showcase and awards sessions held during BEA’s annual convention in Las Vegas. The Festival seeks to enhance and extend creative activities, teaching, and professional standards in broadcasting and other forms of electronically mediated communication.  Visit www.beafestival.org for more information.