TERKEL SCHOLARSHIP GOES TO FILM STUDENT FOR "THE TRACTOR BUILDER" DOC
Community Media Workshop praises ‘Terkelian’ voices at NBC-5, Sun-Times, and Residents Journal.
Sean Patrick Fahey, a senior film student at Columbia who will receive a $1,500 scholarship as part of the Studs Terkel Award to a student for a distinguished documentary or journalistic project at the Community Media Workshop’s April 19 awards ceremony.
“I've really enjoyed Columbia,” says Fahey, 29, who recently completed the rough cut for “The Tractor Builder.” “I've been fortunate with the latitude they've given me. I'm not rational or linear, but I do good work and they've let me do it my way.” The subject of the film is Tom Karl, a Peoria-area native living on the family farm who designed, built, and now uses a tractor that he can operate with his head and right hand using joysticks as a workaround to his muscular dystrophy. Karl is Fahey’s uncle.
The scholarship Fahey will receive—which comes with a check that can be used as the honoree chooses—honors a student project, nominated by a faculty member, that takes risks in covering social issues by offering new or unusual perspectives on topics of general concern. The awards honor those who go the extra mile in sourcing stories and thoughtful treatment of context.
“’The Tractor Builder’ is a very good example of celebrating an ordinary… person’s extraordinary accomplishments,” stated Peter Hawley, the faculty member who nominated Fahey.
Fahey, who is from Peoria, says he gained a lot of life experience during time off and at other schools before finishing up at Columbia. He has worked on a fishing boat in Ireland, tending bar in Spain and France, and other odd jobs elsewhere including a year in Toronto. He plans to finish up a final cut of “The Tractor Builder” and take it on the festival circuit later this year.
Credits for the documentary include: Sean Fahey: Director/Producer; Andy Patch, DP; Tom Clayton, 2nd unit DP; Jeremiah Hammerling, Videographer; Lisa Clausen, AC; Jeremy Frye, AC; Dan Mulholland, Gaffer. Jerem Sloan, an assistant editor at Avenue Edit, is working with Fahey to edit the final piece.
Workshop honors area reporters
In addition to Fahey’s award, the Workshop will honor Mark Brown, principal news columnist at Chicago Sun-Times, Renee Ferguson, general assignment and investigative reporter at NBC affiliate WMAQ-TV channel 5 in Chicago, and Editor Mary Johns and the rest of the team at Residents Journal newspaper, published by, for, and about current and former public housing tenants.
“These are newspeople to make journalists proud,” said Thom Clark, president of Community Media Workshop, which works with Terkel, the prize-winning author of a dozen books that feature the voices of ‘ordinary folks’ to select the award winners. Terkel is expected among some 200 people at the Studs Terkel Awards event, which is a fundraiser for Community Media Workshop, from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 19 at Arts Club of Chicago, 201 E. Ontario. Individual tickets are $85.
Terkel Awards highlight reporters who take risks in covering social issues by offering new or unusual perspectives on topics of general concern, from housing to neighborhood safety and beyond. The awards honor journalists for going the extra mile in sourcing stories and thoughtful treatment of context. The awards reward a body of work rather than a single article or series, and go to journalists at any stage of their career.
"The Studs Terkel awards inspire our students," said Nancy Day, chair of the Journalism Department at Columbia College Chicago, which hosts Community Media Workshop. "Each year, the winners show students what we're talking about in the classrooms about the crucial watchdog and spotlight functions of journalism, yapping about waste and fraud, shining light into dark corners that should be covered but too often are not. We emphasize covering community, going out and finding out what is actually happening and then challenging official sources."
Connecting journalists and the community, Community Media Workshop promotes news that matters. Founded in 1989, the 501c3 provides communications training to other nonprofits, serves as a channel of nonprofit news to journalists, and builds relationships between these two groups to diversify the voices in the news media. Since 1993 the Workshop has been based at Columbia College Chicago. More information is available at www.newstips.org.
Enjoy an elegant, friendly soiree that brings together media, community and nonprofit movers and shakers and celebrates the work of:
Mark Brown, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times
Renee Ferguson, reporter for WMAQ-TV/NBC5
Mary Johns and the Editorial Team at Residents' Journal