Austin student wins C-SPAN documentary prize

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A home-schooled student in Austin won a prize in C-SPAN's 2024 national video documentary competition.

Carson Collins will receive $1,500 for his documentary, "Resurgence of Wisdom: Reviving Classical Liberal Education in America," in the 20th annual StudentCam competition, according to C-SPAN.

Collins took second place out of 150 winning videos, which can be viewed at studentcam.com, according to C-SPAN.

In 2023, Collins also won the annual competition with his documentary “A Perilous Purchase: CCP Ownership of U.S. Land.” In 2022, he finished third in the competition.

C-SPAN is funded by cable television companies in the U.S. "who also support StudentCam," a news release from the agency said.

“In recognition of the 20th anniversary of C-SPAN's StudentCam competition, this year we asked students to either look 20 years into the future or to reflect on a topic of importance to them and its past," Director of C-SPAN Education Relations Craig McAndrew said in the release.

The annual competition is sponsored by the C-SPAN Foundation, where videos were evaluated by C-SPAN representatives, the release said.

Overall, C-SPAN awarded four first prizes, 16 second prizes, 32 third prizes and 97 honorable mention prizes for 2024, the release said.

"The winning videos will receive cash awards of $5,000, $3,000, $1,500, $750 and $250, respectively," the release said.