Arizona State University (ASU) received significant recognition at the 48th annual Rocky Mountain Southwest Emmys, held on November 8. The event, organized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, honors achievements in television across Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and southeastern California.
ASU’s alumni, faculty, staff, and students won multiple awards in categories such as news, documentary, digital content, and photography. These results highlight the university’s broad expertise in visual storytelling.
Dean Battinto Batts of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication commented on the achievement: “I am extremely proud of the performance of Cronkite and ASU alumni, ASU employees and Arizona PBS in the Emmys competition. The exceptional work done is a testament to all that we do at the Cronkite School and ASU as a whole to advance media, journalism and creative storytelling at this critical time in our industry. We celebrate every nominee and winner.”
Among those recognized was Samantha Chow—an alumna and current staff member—who won for Content Shorts and Education/Schools Content. Her father, former Cronkite Professor Michael Chow, also received an award for his documentary “Goons.” Reporters Robert Anglen and Elena Santa Cruz from The Arizona Republic were honored for their work on “Goons” as well.
Samantha Chow reflected on her family’s involvement: “My mom got her degree from the Walter Cronkite School, and I did too. I covered my first bowl game alongside my dad, and a Final Four championship with both of my parents. Now, winning an Emmy like they have feels like another step in that shared path. Even though I’m not strictly in journalism — it’s more of a mix of journalism and marketing — our careers have overlapped in some amazing ways.”
Other ASU winners included Joshua Belveal—who was nominated for nine awards this year—and colleagues Amy Chou, Safwat Saleem, and Alex Cabrera for their short video “Is College Worth It?” Belveal said: “I’m so grateful to help represent ASU among so many talented storytellers.” He added: “Achievements like this are motivation to keep improving, keep striving for excellence, and keep creating work that aims to make an impact.” Over his career Belveal has earned ten Rocky Mountain Emmys.
Arizona PBS also received recognition for its digital-first video series “Voter Ed,” hosted by Ted Simons with support from the Center for the Future of Arizona. Jeremy Cauthen from Arizona PBS stated: “Our goal with ‘Voter Ed’ was to create something that would help people connect with and better understand the process of voting. The great thing about this project is that it will live on with updates in future election cycles; including the rollout of a Spanish version in 2026.”
Tia Perkin co-produced “Voter Ed” as art director. She described its development: “‘Voter Ed’ was one of the hardest projects I’ve tackled here at the station…The message is so important…we really felt we had to get it right…You wouldn’t think a Pac-Man video game could explain decentralized voting but that’s exactly how we visualized it in ‘Voter Ed.’ In the end I think it was worth it.”
ASU continues to build its reputation through such achievements. According to recent rankings, ASU has been named number one in innovation by U.S. News & World Report for eight consecutive years.
Additionally,the City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department has partnered with Argos Vision, an ASU tech startup developing smart traffic cameras aimed at improving safety through data analysis.
These recognitions reflect both individual accomplishments within media production as well as broader institutional efforts toward innovation across disciplines.
