photo courtesy of the New York Times

There is a class taught by Dr. Dennis Woytek in the Journalism and Multimedia Arts Department here at Duquesne that recently won a prestigious Telly Award. The New York Times also did a great profile of the class that created the project and background on Gibson’s life.

From the Duquesne News Room:

Besides its premier at Duquesne, the film was previewed at the annual Jerry Malloy Negro Baseball League Conference in Pittsburgh last summer and aired on WTAE-TV in February in commemoration of Black History Month.

Another Duquesne documentary crew led by James Vota, journalism and multimedia arts instructor, earned a People’s Choice Telly Award for documenting travels along the Pony Express Trail in 7days, 17 hours.

This marks the third consecutive year that a team from Duquesne’s Department of Journalism and Multimedia Arts has earned a Telly.

The Telly Awards, founded in 1979, are a prestigious distinction honoring outstanding local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs, video and film productions.

Dr Woytek talks about Gibson’s life for the NYT:

“He was generally a happy, well-liked guy,” said Dennis Woytek, an assistant professor of journalism at Duquesne University, whose documentary production class put together the film. “But I don’t think he talked with anyone other than his family about what he was experiencing with his health. As a result, maybe he had a little bit of odd behavior, drank too much, and the rumors start. Then, how do you stop the stories from growing?”

The 50-minute Duquesne production, “The Legend Behind the Plate: The Josh Gibson Story,” was made over the past year by 12 students, with the help of Woytek and Mike Clark, an adjunct instructor who is a local ABC news anchor.

Woytek said he believed this was the first documentary to focus solely on Gibson, who played primarily for the Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays from 1930 to 1946. (Homestead, a small steel town, is about seven miles southeast of Pittsburgh.)

Congratualtions to Dr. Woytek, Mike Clark, and everyone that worked on the documentary!  If you’re intersted in obtaining a copy, please contact Sally Richie in the JMA office at (412) 396-1311.