KTTZ Producer, Emily de Santos, swept the pool from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association 2016 Awards by winning first place in "Best News Photo," "Best Sports Feature Photo," and "Best Photo Illustrations," which she shares with Duncan Stanley and Kirby Crumpler.
De Santos graduated from Texas Tech in 2015 with a degree in Electronic Media and Communications and has since been working for Texas Tech Public Media. Her extensive photo resume range from sports to hard news springs from her time working as a photojournalist for The Daily Toreador. It was during this time that she snapped her prize-winning "Best News Photo" of an unfortunate plane crash that took place in Lubbock.
When asked how she was able to get the first photo of the crash site, De Santos answered, "My News Editor, Amy Cuningham, and I just happened to see a tweet about it online and we were able to hunt down where the plane was."
The single-engine plane traveling from Carlsbad, New Mexico crashed into the KCBD tower on its was to Lubbock International Airport. Police had already had the site closed off when De Santos and Cuningham were closing in for a shot of the wreck.
"When we got to the crash site, I think we were probably trespassing because I had to slide through a hole in the gate that blocked off the KCBD property. It was also freezing at the time, but we managed to get the shot and were the first news outlet to post a photo of it."
De Santos continued, "While it was exciting to get the shot, it was also a great learning experience because, unfortunately, somebody lost their life in that crash, and I had to learn about sensitivity to a story."
After learning her lessons and graduating from Tech, De Santos returned to Lubbock to work as a full-time Producer for Texas Tech Public Media (KTTZ).
"I came back because I interned at KTTZ during college, and I remembered how much I loved working with the people there. When I saw that they were hiring for a Producer, I just felt like I had to apply. I definitely didn't think I'd come back to Lubbock after going back home to Austin, but it was absolutely worth it for this job."
Emily now films and edits several different television shows for KTTZ, including the cultural hit of Lubbock, 24 Frames. "It was cool to finally see my name being credited," De Santos says, "to see my work for 24 Frames is just amazing."
You can see more of Emily de Santos' work on her WEBSITE and look out for her name on more upcoming shows and documentaries from Texas Tech Public Media.