April 16, 2001

WKU Streak Ends In
Hearst Photo Competition

Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University finished tied for second in the photojournalism competition of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation's Journalism Awards Program.

Florida, which finished second the past two years, won the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition with Western and Montana tied for second. Missouri and San Jose State rounded out the top five.

"Eleven years in a row winning the top photojournalism competition that's often referred to as the Pulitzer Prize of collegiate journalism is unprecedented and is a record that probably won't be broken," said Mike Morse, coordinator of WKU's photojournalism program. "Twelve would have been nice, but second place isn't bad when you're competing with the best programs in the country."

This year's finish doesn't mean that Western's program is slipping, Morse said. It means that other schools like Florida, this year's winner, are making a stronger effort to attain Western's level of success, he said.

"The Hearst competition, of course, is something that's very important to us, but the results should not define us as a department," said James Kenney, who'll take over as coordinator this summer when Morse retires.

The WKU photojournalism program places an emphasis on preparing students for jobs and teaching them the skills they need to succeed, Kenney said.

Morse agreed. "You can't define yourself by awards. Eleven Hearst awards is a strong record and an indication of the quality our students possess," he said.

"In a bigger sense, however, our majors are sought after in the job market and our graduates are highly successful," Morse said. "I think that's more significant than winning a contest."

But contest results are one way to recognize student achievement and quality, he said. "In recent years, Florida has been our main competition in the Hearst contest," Morse said. "They've worked very hard to win it, but we'll be there next year to take the title back."

Last year, Western won the Hearst competition's overall intercollegiate title for the first time ever with a first-place finish in photojournalism and fourth-place finishes in broadcasting and print journalism.

This year's final results will be announced later this month after the final writing competition. Besides the second-place finish in photojournalism, Western already has won first place and $10,000 in the Intercollegiate Broadcasting Competition and has four students qualified for Hearst national semifinals.

National semifinalists are: Amber T. Woolfolk, a junior from Los Angeles, in photojournalism; Lisa Hughes, a Scottsville junior, Aimee Reed, a Columbia senior, and Julie Goodwin, a Louisville senior, in broadcasting.

For more information, contact the School of Journalism and Broadcasting at (270) 745-4143. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.