Want to be part of The S.H.O.W. in Downtown Savannah? Applications are now open to participate in Savannah State University’s 2026 Homecoming Parade! Submit your application and join us as Tiger Nation takes over downtown for one of Homecoming’s biggest traditions.
More to Explore
SSU Appoints Dr. Dibo-Armstrong As Chair of the Department of Social Work
September 10, 2026
Three recent Savannah State University graduates earned a Merit Award for Tiger 411 in the Best Student-Run Program (College/University) category at the 2026 GABBY Awards, presented Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Gas South District Convention Center in Duluth, Ga., during GABCON 2026, the annual convention of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters (GAB).
Lynbyrd Massey, Jr., Kyla Chandler and Kalaysia Robinson — May 2026 graduates of the university who each earned a degree in mass communications — make up the team behind Tiger 411, Savannah State University’s student-run program, which was previously named a finalist in the category. The three received the Merit Award when winners were announced at Saturday’s ceremony.
The GABBY Awards honor excellence in television and radio broadcasting across Georgia. GABBY Awards are presented to entries that stand above all others in their categories, while Merit Awards recognize entries that judges deem worthy of special recognition. The 2026 awards honored content produced during the 2025 calendar year.
“My friends and I started Tiger 411 in the Journalism and Mass Communications Department at Savannah State University during our junior year as three transfer students with a vision to highlight campus resources and connect our university to the surrounding communities,” said Massey, who co-founded the program with Chandler and Robinson. “What began as a student news program grew into a platform to ask university leaders tough questions, hold those in power accountable and amplify student voices. We weren’t just learning how to produce a newscast. We were learning how to be journalists. Seeing something we built from the ground up recognized with a GABBY Merit Award is truly a full-circle moment.”
“Tiger 411 started with us, three transfer students working together to create a production that would help other transfer students feel more connected, involved, and welcomed into the SSU community,” said Chandler. “This experience has allowed me to grow as a storyteller and media professional, and I’m excited to carry this experience with me as I enter the next chapter of my professional career.”
Tiger 411 is one of four regularly produced shows by students in the mass communications program accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC) at Savannah State University.
“This is a tremendous moment for our university. This recognition reflects the talent of our great students and the faculty and staff who pour into them every day,” said David Marshall, dean of the College of Media, Arts, and Communication. “We celebrate the Tiger 411 team on this well-deserved honor and look forward to all they will accomplish in the industry.”
SSU is home to one of only three nationally accredited mass communications programs in Georgia and the only HBCU in the state with that distinction.
Its programs are housed in classroom spaces that recently received a $1.2 million upgrade to the television studio and podcasting facilities. That hands-on production experience gives graduates like Massey, Chandler, and Robinson a professional portfolio and real-world skills that make them more competitive in the job market as they launch their careers.
