NMSU Students In Running To Report From The Oscars

Two NMSU students are among nine other pairs of college journalists in the semifinal round of mtvU’s “Hosting the Oscars” contest.

MtvU asked all participants to submit a two-minute video showcasing their broadcasting and editing skills, proving to them they’re worthy of being a correspondent from the red carpet in Hollywood on Oscar night.

“It was a really big confidence booster to know that my work is quality work and that other people recognize that,” said Brandi Parrell during a phone interview with ABC-7 from Las Cruces.

Parrell, a reporter and anchor for News 22, the local news station run by NMSU students, paired up with the station’s chief editor Angela Hardenburg for the competition.

The pair is trying to get enough online votes to push them into the final round of competition. The top three pairs will win a trip to Los Angeles, where they will report from pre-Academy Award events. The grand prize winner reports from the red carpet on Oscar night.

Parrell said she has been networking, e-mailing family, friends and classmates, urging them to vote. She’s confident she and Hardenburg will make it to the top three.

“This will show the university, the president, our dean that quality work comes out of the journalism department here at NMSU,” said the NMSU junior, referring to the university’s public decision last week to pull its journalism program from the reaccreditation process.

It will be only one of two non-accredited journalism programs of the 113 across the nation.

“Hopefully (winning the contest) will push them to get us reaccredited and show other journalists that this is where they need to come to get good work out of themselves,” Parrell added.

Click here to see the submission video.

Click here to vote.