San Francisco – Winning college journalists in the National Writing, Photojournalism, Broadcast News and Multimedia Championships were announced on June 2, 2016 by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program. Winners were announced during the final awards ceremony at The City Club of San Francisco, an historic venue in the Financial District.
The Hearst Championships are the culmination of the 2015 – 2016 Journalism Awards Program, which are held in 108 member colleges and universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs.
From May 30th through June 2nd, 28 finalists – all winners from the 14 monthly competitions – participated in the 56th annual Hearst Championships in San Francisco where they demonstrated their writing, photography, radio, television and multimedia skills in rigorous on-the-spot assignments. The assignments were chosen by media professionals who judged the finalists’ work throughout the year and at the Championships.
The following are the first, second and third-place winners and the scholarships they received:
NATIONAL WRITING CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Alden Woods, Indiana University, $5,000 award
Second Place, Cody Stavenhagen, Oklahoma State University, $4,000 award
Third Place, Erin McCarthy, Pennsylvania State University, $3,000 award
NATIONAL PHOTOJOURNALISM CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Brittany Greeson, Western Kentucky University, $5,000 award
Second Place, Dillon Deaton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $4,000 award
Third Place, Tegan Johnston, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $3,000 award
NATIONAL RADIO BROADCAST NEWS CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Martha C. Daniel, University of Southern California, $5,000 award
Second Place, Tommy Rezac, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, $4,000 award
Third Place, Jasmine Turner, Howard University, $3,000 award
NATIONAL TELEVISION BROADCAST NEWS CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, CB Cotton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $5,000 award
Second Place, Marc Sallinger, University of Southern California, $4,000 award
Third Place, Yahaira Jacquez, Arizona State University, $3,000 award
NATIONAL MULTIMEDIA CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Emily Rhyne, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $5,000 award
Second Place, Alyse Young, Western Kentucky University, $4,000 award
Third Place, Luke Rafferty, Syracuse University, $3,000 award
Finalists in the Championship are:
Five finalists in the Writing Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarships
(listed in alphabetical order):
Hannah Alani, Indiana University
Will Drabold, Ohio University
Kaelynn Knoernschild, Oklahoma State University
Taylor Telford, Indiana University
Jordan Wilson, University of Illinois
The $1,000 Award for Best Reporting Technique went to Cody Stavenhagen, Oklahoma State University.
The Article of the Year Award of $1,000 went to Hannah Alani, Indiana University.
Three finalists in the Photojournalism Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarships
(listed in alphabetical order):
Emily Harger, Ohio University
Calla Kessler, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Nick Wagner, Western Kentucky University
The $1,000 Award for Best Single Photograph went to Dillon Deaton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Best Portfolio Award of $1,000 went to Brittany Greeson, Western Kentucky University.
Those awards were selected from the semi-final portfolios.
Two finalists in the Radio Broadcast News Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarships (listed in alphabetical order):
Evan Hummel, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jacob McAuliffe, Arizona State University
The $1,000 Award for Best Use of Radio For News Coverage went to Jacob McAuliffe, Arizona State University. This award was selected from the semi-final entries.
Two finalists in the Television Broadcast News Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarships (listed in alphabetical order):
Jaclyn Lee, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ben Smart, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The Best Use of Television For News Coverage Award of $1,000 went to Ben Smart, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This award was selected from the semi-final entries.
The finalist in the Multimedia Championship, who will receive $1,500 scholarship is:
Cat Cardenas, University of Texas at Austin
The $1,000 Award for Best Multimedia Story of the Year went to Emily Rhyne, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This award was selected from the monthly competition entries.
The writing judges were: Nicole Carroll, Vice President/News and Editor, The Arizona Republic; Mike Leary, Senior Vice President and Editor, San Antonio Express-News; and David Zeeck, President and Publisher, The News Tribune, WA.
The photojournalism judges were: Kenneth Irby, Independent Visual Consultant, FL; Lisa Krantz, Staff Photographer, San Antonio Express-News; Sue Morrow, Assistant Multimedia Director, Sacramento Bee.
The broadcast news judges were: Marci Burdick, Senior Vice President, Schurz Communications, Inc., IN; Harvey Nagler, Vice President, Radio, CBS News, NY; and Fred Young, retired Senior Vice President of News, Hearst Television Inc., NY.
The multimedia Judges were: Tiffany Campbell, Managing Editor, Digital, WBUR 90.9, VA; Kenny Irby, Independent Visual Consultant, FL; Kate O’Brian, President, Al Jazeera America, NY.
The William Randolph Hearst Foundation was established by its namesake in 1948 under California non-profit laws, exclusively for educational and charitable purposes. Since then, the Hearst Foundations have contributed over 1 billion dollars to numerous educational programs, health and medical care, human services and the arts in every state.
The Hearst Journalism Awards Program was founded in 1960 to foster journalism education through scholarships for outstanding college students. Since its inception, the program has distributed more than $12 million in scholarships and grants for the very best work by student journalists.
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