WKU In Top Four In Hearst
Competition For Sixth Year In Row

April 20, 2004

Bowling Green, Ky. - For the sixth consecutive year, Western Kentucky University's School of Journalism and Broadcasting has finished in the top four nationally in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program.

WKU placed fourth in the competition behind Missouri, North Carolina and Northwestern. Florida and Penn State tied for fifth.

"Clearly, we are very pleased to receive more Hearst awards," said Dr. Pam Johnson, director of the School of Journalism and Broadcasting. "The Hearst awards are often called the Pulitzers of college journalism. We've found that winning Hearst awards can indeed lead to winning Pulitzer awards. For the past three years, a Western graduate has been on the team winning a Pulitzer Prize in photojournalism.

"We've had so many Pulitzer Prize winners, in both news and photojournalism, that we're inviting them all back to campus for a dinner with President Gary Ransdell next fall."

WKU's other overall Hearst finishes since 1999 are two firsts, one second and two thirds. The Hearst program includes photojournalism, writing and broadcast news competitions. In this year's competition, Western won the photojournalism competition and finished 10th 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.

-WKU-