UTA alumni shine at Lone Star Emmys
Five University of Texas at Arlington alumni picked up National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) Lone Star Chapter awards at the ceremony held recently at Arlington’s Texas Live!
Jimena Fraga, a producer for KXTX Telemundo39, was part of the team that won a Lone Star Emmy in the Morning/Daytime Newscast category for a segment titled “A Busy Day in the Metroplex.” Fraga is a 2015 UTA alumna. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in broadcast communication.
Four recent UTA alumni won for work they did while students at UTA. Reporter Nathalie Palacios, producer Jehova Azucena, anchor Juana Palmieri and technical director Juan Correa collaborated on the best college newscast Proyecto U, a live broadcast done in partnership with the Univision television station in Dallas-Fort Worth. A joint project between UTA and the University of North Texas, Proyecto U won the Lone Star NATAS Student Production award, its second one in three years.
All students are alumni of the UTA Hispanic Media Initiative (HMI).
“These outstanding young Latino journalists are leading the way by telling stories that reflect who we are as a nation and the challenges we face in a globalized world,” said Julian Rodriguez, UTA broadcast journalism specialist and faculty adviser for HMI. “It is always breathtaking when you see our students become the bright future we wanted for them and our communities.”
Last year, six former HMI students won a total of 11 Lone Star Emmys at the 2018 ceremony.
UTA’s HMI program is one of the best in the country, producing broadcast journalism professionals in all areas of the field. The program has a 100% graduation and job placement rate, highlighting the demand from industry for UTA-trained graduates.
HMI specializes in Hispanic media education, journalism and research and includes a broad network of alumni working in some of the largest markets in the United States and internationally. Proyecto U, established in 2014, is one of the few programs in the country that gives students real-time, experiential learning opportunities in broadcast journalism.
Founded in 2002, the Lone Star Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has grown to be one of the largest in the country.