WKU News

WKU’s School of Media has won the Hearst Journalism Awards Program’s Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition for the fifth straight year and the 27^th time in the past 32 years.

With second-place and third-place finishers in the Photojournalism Picture Story/Series Competition and first-place and third-place finishers in the Photojournalism Features and News Competition, WKU had the highest accumulated student points in the 2020-2021 photo competition. WKU’s School of Media will receive a $10,000 award.

The top 10 finishers in the 2020-2021 Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition are WKU; Ohio University; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Montana; University of Kentucky; Ball State University (tie); Pennsylvania State University (tie); University of Oregon; University of Florida; Syracuse University.

In the Photojournalism Picture Story/Series Competition, Michael Blackshire, a 2020 graduate from Louisville, finished second and received a $2,000 award; Sam Mallon, a senior from Silver Spring, Maryland, finished third and received a $1,500 award. WKU will receive matching awards.

Often called “The Pulitzers of college journalism,” the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, in its 61^st year, consists of five writing, two photojournalism, one audio, two television and four multimedia competitions offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends; 103 member universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.

WKU is in second place in the 2020-2021 Hearst Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition after two of four multimedia competitions.

In 2020, WKU won the Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition for the eighth time in nine years and finished second in the Hearst Intercollegiate Overall Competition. WKU has finished in the top eight nationally in the Hearst program for 27 straight years and has won four overall national championships -- 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2018.

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.

Contact: School of Media, (270) 745-4144