April 08, 2008
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Two Western Kentucky University students have been honored in the final photojournalism competition of the 2007-08 Hearst Journalism Awards Program.
Jeff Giraldo, a December graduate from LaGrange, Ill., finished fourth in the Picture Story/Series Competition and received a $750 award. Courtney Hergesheimer, a senior from Dana Point, Calif., finished seventh and received a $500 award. WKU’s School of Journalism and Broadcasting will receive matching awards.
With his fourth-place finish, Giraldo joins WKU photojournalism students Philip Andrews, a junior from Annandale, Va., and Aaron Borton, a Crestwood senior, among the 12 semifinalists for the Hearst national championship. The semifinalists will submit additional photos for judging with six finalists selected for the National Photojournalism Championships June 1-6 in San Francisco.
Often called the “Pulitzers of College Journalism,” the Hearst program holds yearlong competitions in writing, photojournalism, broadcast news and multimedia with championship finals in all divisions except multimedia. The program awards more than $500,000 in scholarships and grants annually.
In the 2007-08 Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition, WKU placed second behind the University of Missouri. The rest of the top 10 was San Francisco State University; University of Florida; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; Ball State University; University of Nebraska-Lincoln; University of Kentucky; Iowa State University; and Central Michigan University.
The overall winner in this year’s Hearst competition will be announced later this month. WKU’s School of Journalism and Broadcasting has finished in the top four overall nationally in the Hearst competition for nine consecutive years, including No. 1 finishes in 2005, 2001 and 2000. WKU has won the photojournalism title 16 times in the past 19 years.
The Hearst Journalism Awards Program is conducted under the auspices of accredited schools of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, and fully funded and administered by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. For more on the Hearst program, visit http://www.hearstfdn.org/hearst_journalism/index.php
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 School of Journalism and Broadcasting at (270) 745-4143.
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