San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the Investigative Reporting Competition of the 2021-2022 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. There were 67 entries from 41 schools submitted in the final writing
competition of the academic year.
First Place has been awarded to Elise Elder, a senior from University of Florida.
Elise will receive a $3,000 scholarship for the winning article “Former NYPD officers in Florida heralded by
DeSantis include surprises.” Elise also qualifies to participate in the Hearst National Writing Championship which will be held in San Francisco, May 20-25.
The other top finalists are:
Second Place, $2,000 award, Ardeshir Tabrizian, University of Oregon
Third Place, $1,500 award, Houston Harwood, University of Florida
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Matt Cohen, Indiana University
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Sydney Gold, Syracuse University
The top five winning schools receive matching grants.
The sixth-through-tenth place finalists are:
Sixth Place, certificate, Ellie Heffernan, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Seventh Place, certificate, Dair McNinch, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Eighth Place, certificate, Jack Danz, Temple University
Ninth Place, certificate, Gloria Gomez, University of Arizona
Tenth Place, certificate, Nikki Zambon, University of Montana
University of Florida has won the Intercollegiate Writing Competition, with the highest accumulated student points from the five writing competitions held this year.
They are followed by:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Syracuse University; Arizona State University; Pennsylvania State
University; Temple University; Indiana University; Stony Brook University; University of Montana; University of
Missouri.
The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $4,000 and $2,000 respectively. These awards will be
presented at the Intercollegiate Awards Presentation at the National Championships in San Francisco.
The writing judges are: Larry Kramer, retired President and Publisher, USA Today, VA; Maria Reeve, Editor-in-Chief, The Houston Chronicle, TX, David Zeeck, retired President and Publisher, The (Tacoma) News Tribune, WA.
The Journalism Awards Program, now in its 62nd year, also includes two photojournalism, one audio, two
television, and four multimedia competitions. The program offers up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends annually. There are 103 universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs that are eligible to participate in the Hearst monthly competitions.
