Mr. Alexander Tawiah ('22) has been named the Overall Top Student in the Master of Arts in Mass Communication programme at Texas State University, USA.

Tawiah, who earned his undergraduate degree in History from KNUST in 2022, was also adjudged Outstanding Graduate Student by the College of Fine Arts and Communication at Texas State. In recognition of his leadership, mentorship, and service to the university community, he was honoured by both the International Office and the Graduate College for his role as a student representative in university governance and for mentoring newly admitted international students.

From humble beginnings in Denkyira Assuadei, a small village in Ghana’s Central Region, Tawiah’s journey to academic distinction in the U.S. is one marked by resilience, vision, and impact.
“My parents and four siblings have always inspired me. We didn’t have much, but my mum would always remind me: ‘With passion and determination, impossibility is nothing.’ That faith and perseverance have carried me through everything,” he said.

Tawiah’s passion for media began at KNUST, where he studied History.
“As an undergraduate History student, I became interested in how stories shape people’s understanding of the world,” he said. “In my first year at KNUST, I noticed a communication gap on campus that I felt we could do something about.”

That insight inspired him to establish Thriller News GH (thrillernewsgh.com), a student-run digital media platform aimed at informing and connecting the university community. Under his leadership, the platform grew into one of the most prominent student media outlets in Ghana, reaching audiences beyond KNUST.
“My goal in starting Thriller News GH was to provide an engaging, trustworthy outlet for student voices and critical campus information,” Tawiah noted. “I believed we could reimagine what student media could look like.”

Tawiah mentored and trained over 20 student journalists through Thriller News GH in areas such as photography, videography, content management systems like WordPress, and digital storytelling. His dedication earned him several accolades on campus, including Best Student Blogger and Writer at the Ghana Student Awards (2021), Student Entrepreneur of the Year by the Department of History, and Best Student Media House by the Faculty of Social Sciences.

While at KNUST, Tawiah juggled full academic workloads with his media work, often enrolling in as many as eight courses per semester. He also led digital media training workshops under the CoHSSTREPENEUR initiative of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences student government.

He credits much of his early professional media development to the support he received from KNUST’s University Relations Office.
“The office played a key role in shaping my media journey. Their semester trainings for campus media creators not only improved my technical skills but also taught me the leadership and ethical principles needed to manage a media platform responsibly as a student,” he said.

After completing his national service as an IT Support Specialist at KNUST’s University Information Technology Services (UITS), Tawiah proceeded to Texas State in Fall 2023. There, he excelled not only academically but also as a graduate instructor, teaching video production and serving in various leadership roles, including membership in the Gold Star Society, the university’s select ambassadorial corps.

He also continued to run Thriller News GH remotely while pursuing his master’s degree.
“It was tough, but I’ve always been passionate about digital media,” he said. “I believe the future of journalism lies in our ability to adapt and experiment. We need to ask: What might alternative news and information environments look like in today’s fragmented media landscape?”

In 2024, he received the Dr. Ralph Harrel Graduate Scholar Award from Texas State and was honoured by the San Antonio Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) for Excellence in Journalism.

Tawiah’s academic research has also gained attention. His recent study, titled “Social Media Campaign Strategies: A Case Study of Political Issue Framing by 2024 Presidential Candidates in Ghana,” was published in the Journalism and Media journal. The paper explores how platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) are being used not only for political messaging but also as strategic framing tools in modern electoral campaigns.

The study earned the Best Paper Award in the International Communication Division’s student competition and will be presented at the 2025 AEJMC National Conference in San Francisco, California. It has already received media coverage in Ghana, including by TV3.

Looking ahead, Tawiah has launched InteractiveMediaSkills.com, an online learning platform designed to equip journalism and communication students with practical digital media skills.
“My journey has been guided by faith, resilience, and a desire to make a difference through digital media,” he remarked. “KNUST gave me the foundation to grow, and I’m committed to using that foundation to make a global impact and fulfill my ambitions.”