Eleven area high schools participate in Southern Media Showcase

(From Missouri Southern State University)

Students from eleven area high schools are celebrating their victories in competition at the annual Southern Media Showcase event held at Missouri Southern State University April 10. 

The multi-media competition included more than forty categories for which students submitted entries. The Best in Show overall winning school in the audio/video categories is Webb City High School and the Best in Show overall for journalism is Nixa High School.

More than 350 entries were submitted with 212 in audio and video categories and 147 in journalism. Categories for competition included Broadcast news anchor, news and sports reporting and features. Audio competitions included music production, audio drama, podcasts, commercials and PSAs. New media challenges came in categories such as animation, motion graphics, Instagram challenge, TikTok and even AI generated design. Newswriting, photography, yearbook, and cartoon or comic strip all offered students a variety of ways to demonstrate their media talents.

The event also serves as an educational program. Students dined on pizza while listening to a keynote presentation by Karen Elizabeth, a freelance film producer, director, and writer. Breakout sessions followed the lunch during which students chose three of six offered presentations by industry professionals. 

Karen Elizabeth did a session on ‘How to Nail Your First Film Crew Job; Ben McNelly, owner and founder of Full Bore Studios and Pennington Station in Joplin discussed utilizing ‘Augmented Reality’ in marketing and gaming; Joe Hadsall with the Springfield Daily Citizen shared, ‘THEY NEED US: Why journalists and journalism will be in demand for dozens of decades’; Ryan Jackson with Benlabs in Los Angeles shared his career path from MSSU to professional in the field of public relations and influencer marketing specializing in the creator economy and helping launch anticipated titles in the world of gaming; Shanna Slavings, MSSU professor, offered an immersive, hands-on public relations activity; Brian Mehrens demonstrated the new MSSU LED wall and the use of virtual reality in commercials; and Lisa Olliges gave tours of the KGCS-TV green screen studio and explained the use of virtual sets.

Participating high schools this year included: Joplin, Webb City, Carthage, Nixa, East Newton, McDonald County, Willard, Diamond, Purdy, Frontenac, and Pittsburg.