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WKU Photojournalism Student Wins Hearst National Title
Bowling Green, Ky. - For the second consecutive year, a Western Kentucky University student has won the national photojournalism championship in the annual Hearst Journalism Awards Program.
Bowling Green senior Jim Winn placed first in the competition and received a $5,000 scholarship in awards presented Saturday in San Francisco. Two other Western photojournalism students -- Melanie Blanding, a junior from Roanoke, Va., and Bowling Green senior Erik Jacobs -- were Hearst finalists and received $1,500 scholarships. Jacobs also won a $1,000 award for best single photograph while Blanding won a $1,000 award for best picture story/series. The Hearst competition, often called "The Pulitzers of College Journalism," includes print journalism, photojournalism and broadcast news. Earlier this year, Western's School of Journalism and Broadcasting won the Hearst program's Overall Intercollegiate Competition for the third time since 2000 and the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition for the 15th time in 17 years. Western students finished first in all three individual photojournalism contests this year and six qualified for the Hearst's semifinal round of judging. Western's three other semifinalists received $1,000 scholarships. They were Wiqan Ang, a Bowling Green senior; David Degner, a junior from Augusta, Ga.; and Dana Marie Rieber, a Shepherdsville senior. Last year, Western's Jae S. Lee of Hendersonville, Tenn., won the Hearst photo competition. The Hearst Journalism Awards Program, funded and administered by The William Randolph Hearst Foundation, operates under the auspices of the accredited schools of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication. More than 100 accredited undergraduate schools of journalism in the United States are eligible to participate in the program, which awards more than $400,000 in scholarships and grants annually. More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu. For information, contact the School of Journalism and Broadcasting at (270) 745-4143.
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