“Inside Lehman” was honored this month with a prestigious first-place award at the Alliance for Community Media’s award dinner. The announcement comes on top of a bronze Telly Award the show won in May.

The student-produced video magazine, originating from Lehman's Department of Journalism, Communication and Theatre, won its most recent award in the Northeast Regional competition’s School/Education Program category. Michael Knobbe, Executive Director of BronxNet, accepted the award on behalf of the “Inside Lehman” staff at the award dinner, held on November 6 at the Brattle Theater in Harvard Square, Massachusetts.

“With 100 entries more than last year’s competition, our group was up against some top-notch cable television programming,” says Professor Lynne Van Voorhis, the program’s executive producer. Last year, the group won in the special-interest programming category for the segment produced during Spring 2003. This time, the Spring 2004 program was honored.

“It’s pretty impressive that we won that award,” says Lou Gonzales, a sophomore and reporter on the award-winning program. “We put a lot of time and dedication into making this a quality product.”

Created as part of an internship in mass communication, “Inside Lehman” focuses on events and programs at Lehman and in the surrounding community. Students write and produce their own segments and are also featured in all of the on-camera work. Professor Thomas O’Hanlon, who has had an extensive career in broadcasting, teaches the internship and is the show’s producer. The segment is broadcast on BronxNet, the municipal access station located on the Lehman campus, as well as on CUNY-TV.

“I felt that I’ve been working with an all-star team,” says Harvey Bien, an “Inside Lehman” reporter who has already worked on two other segments for the program. “To be selected is quite an honor.”

A non-profit organization founded in 1976, the Alliance for Community Media represents over 1,000 public, educational and governmental access organizations and community media centers throughout the country.