WKU News

WKU students finished second in the photojournalism and multimedia national championships of the 2017 Hearst Journalism Awards Program.

Gabriel Scarlett, a sophomore from Maumee, Ohio, finished second in the Hearst National Photojournalism Championship. Alyse Young, a senior from Redmond, Washington, finished second in the Hearst National Multimedia Championship for the second straight year. Both received $4,000 scholarships.

The Hearst Championships are the culmination of the 2016–2017 Journalism Awards Program, which are held in 106 member colleges and universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs. The national championships in photojournalism, multimedia, writing and broadcast news were held May 29-June 1.

Two other WKU students also received awards June 1 in San Francisco. Harrison Hill, a senior from Louisville, also was a finalist in the photojournalism competition and received a $1,500 scholarship. Srijita Chattopadhyay, a senior from India, won a $1,000 award for Best Picture Story.

WKU’s School of Journalism & Broadcasting finished third overall in the 2016-2017 Hearst Journalism Awards Program – the school’s eighth consecutive top five national ranking. WKU has finished in the top eight of the Hearst competition for 24 straight years, including national championships in 2000, 2001 and 2005.

Earlier this spring, WKU won the Hearst program’s Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition for the sixth consecutive year and the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition for the 23^rd time in the past 28 years.

WKU students have won 15 Hearst individual national championships since 1985 — photojournalism in 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2016; multimedia in 2015; writing in 1985; and radio news in 2006.

Often called “The Pulitzers of college journalism,” the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, now in its 57th year, includes five writing, one radio, two television, four multimedia and two photojournalism competitions offering up to $500,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends.

Contact: School of Journalism & Broadcasting, (270) 745-4144