A small, heavily heated room painted with oversized movie posters and personal pictures once described the workstation of student-run television show “alt. news 26:46.”

This room is now described as the holding place of nine Emmy nominees – Jon Solits, Tim Wilkerson, Sean Brown, Jared Kagel, Kyle Tekiela, Adam Slutsky, Nicholas Karsten, Jordan Gzesh, and Andrew Mitchell.

Eight SIUC students and a recent graduate created segments and animated graphics that have been recognized by the Academy of Television Arts ‘ Sciences, which is best known for the Emmy Awards.

Brown described alt.news 26:46, as a magazine-style news show that covers bizarre stories that would never be heard on regular news.

Wilkerson provided clarification to the meaning of the abbreviation “alt.news 26:46.”

“It stands for alternative news that runs the show length of 26 minutes and 46 seconds,” Wilkerson said.

The magazine-style show has been nominated for and won Emmys and several other awards.

Sophomore students Wilkerson and Brown produced one of the segments nominated for an Emmy titled “The Sweatshirt Phenomenon,” which explored the origins of the “COLLEGE” sweatshirt made famous by actor John Belushi.

The segment had an authentic feel with the occasional occurrence of comedy. Wilkerson and Brown identified people by their first and last names as well as their occupation, just as a typical television show would. But the wit comes when they identified one witness as “Tom College, known liar.”

Kagel, recent graduate of SIUC, produced a noncomedic documentary titled “Parkour: Never Look Back” that examined a European-created extreme sport in which participants called traceurs leap, vault and thrust themselves off of walls and rails.

Brown said creations like these come regularly in the uniquely organized office home to multiple students. He said the office may be messy and unattractive, but they are constantly working.

“There are a lot more guys than girls working here, and that may be because of the way the place looks, but we accomplish a lot,” Brown said.

Student’s work on WSIU-TV earned Emmy nominations in several categories during a ceremony on Sept. 21 in St. Louis. Winners will be announced Saturday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in St. Louis.

“It’s an honor to be considered a professional, and I’m only a sophomore in college,” Wilkerson said.

Aerial McCall can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 263 or [email protected].