June 09, 2008
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University’s Jeff Giraldo won the Hearst Journalism Awards Program’s National Photojournalism Championship last week in San Francisco.
Giraldo, a December 2007 graduate from LaGrange, Ill., received a $5,000 award. Giraldo, one of three WKU students among 12 semifinalists in the Hearst competition, was one of six finalists selected for the May 31-June 5 national championships.
“It is an award well deserved for Jeff, who came to Western for a second career in photojournalism and worked very hard to use his talent and love of telling stories to accomplish great things,” said James Kenney, coordinator of the photojournalism program in WKU’s School of Journalism and Broadcasting.
WKU students Philip Andrews, a junior from Annandale, Va., and Aaron Borton, a Crestwood senior, received $1,000 scholarships as national semifinalists.
In Hearst competitions since 1981, WKU students have won nine photojournalism titles (’87, ’88, ’91, ’92, ’96, ’04, ’05, ’06, ’08), one broadcasting title (’06) and one news writing title (’85). WKU students also have finished second three times in photo, second twice in writing, third six times in photo and third once in broadcasting.
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.
Earlier this year, WKU’s School of Journalism and Broadcasting placed seventh overall in the Hearst competition. WKU has placed in the top eight nationally for 15 consecutive years and won the overall championship in 2005, 2001 and 2000.
WKU has won the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition 16 times in the past 19 years, including a second-place finish this year. WKU finished second this year in the Hearst program’s inaugural multimedia competition.
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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