Sabrina Jones, a sophomore from Glen Dale, WV, received second place in the national Broadcast Education Association (BEA) Festival of Media Arts, for her documentary entitled, “Hare in the Hills.” which runs just a little over nine minutes in length and looks at the Hare Krishnas in West Virginia.
Jones competed against more than 1,250 entries in 15 different divisions ranging from dramatic narratives, non-fiction documentary, news, and interactive multimedia, in the yearly competitive festival open to BEA faculty and student members.
“What an honor for Sabrina,” said WLU Instructor Jeff Pfister, who also is the director of WLU’s student run WGLZ Radio station. “This production was an excellent example of her ability to demonstrate her communication skills; to listen and ask questions and then assemble the information to tell an interesting and dynamic story.”
The audio examines the Hare Krishna Temple of Gold, located in Marshall County, which has attracted both good and bad media attention over the years. Both a tourist attraction and a working farm, religious community, she visited the site and interviewed older and newer Krishna devotees.
She produced the documentary for a grade in her Audio Documentary Production course taken last spring with Pfister, then entered her work in the Specialty Program division of the national competition.
“The Temple was something I grew up wondering about all my life,” explained Jones, whose home is less than 10 miles from the rural setting of New Vrindaban, once the largest Hare Krishna community in the United States.
“It was an incredible learning experience,” said Jones, who is planning on going into the field of broadcasting when she graduates. “And the exposure to new people and to new ideas really opened my mind. While gathering the audio, I enjoyed being able to ask the kinds of questions that I was curious about and then turn it into an enjoyable audio piece.”
“Getting to know each person was fascinating and it was important to see what they went through first hand and be a part of it during the process of creating the interview. I learned that underneath all the bad part of its history, there were a lot of people sincerely trying to worship God and be a community.”
New Vrindaban’s Temple of Gold opened to the public in 1979. It suffered scandal in the 1990s when a former leader was convicted of crimes and sent to prison. Now it is rebuilding its image and turning back to its original roots of Eastern spirituality and living off the land.
BEA award winners officially receive their honors during its annual convention that is taking place this year April 12-15, in Las Vegas. Pfister will be there to proudly pick up Jones’ award since she can’t make the trip due to work responsibilities.
Both Pfister and WLU are members of the BEA, which for 60 years has promoted excellence in media production while offering educational and career networking opportunities for students. Some of the equipment used by Jones and other students in Pfister’s classes were purchased through a West Virginia Broadcasters Educational Foundation grant awarded to Pfister.
For more information on WLU, its communication program or its radio, contact Pfister at 304-336-8642 or visit westliberty.edu.
