San Francisco – Winning college journalists in the National Writing, Photojournalism, Audio, Television and
Multimedia Championships were announced on May 25, 2022 by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program.
The Hearst Championships are the culmination of the 2021 – 2022 Journalism Awards Program, which were held in 103 member universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs. From May 20 – 25, 2022, 29 finalists – winners from the 14 monthly
competitions – participated in the 62nd annual Hearst Championships in San Francisco where they demonstrated their writing, photography, audio, television and multimedia skills in spot assignments. The assignments were chosen by media professionals who judged the finalists’ work throughout the year and at the Championships.
Following are the winners and the scholarships they received:
National Writing Championship
First Place, $10,000 award: Maddie Ellis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Second Place, $7,500 award: Houston Harwood, University of Florida
Third Place, $5,000 award: Abigail Weiss, Syracuse University
Writing Championship runner-ups listed in alphabetical order:
Finalist, $1,500 award: Christopher Cicchiello, Syracuse University
Finalist, $1,500 award: Elise Elder, University of Florida
Finalist, $1,500 award: Katherine Lester, Texas Christian University
Finalist, $1,500 award: Elizabeth Moore, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Finalist, $1,500 award: Kiera Riley, Arizona State University
National Photojournalism Championship
First Place, $10,000 award: Angelina Katsanis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Second Place, $7,500 award: Julia Nikhinson, University of Maryland
Third Place, $5,000 award: Alberto Mariani, Arizona State University
Photo Championship runners-up listed in alphabetical order:
Finalist, $1,500 award: Chasity Maynard, University of Florida
Finalist, $1,500 award: Noah Riffe, Pennsylvania State University
Finalist, $1,500 award: Jack Weaver, University of Kentucky
National Audio Championship
First Place, $10,000 award: Jayda Williams, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Second Place, $7,500 award: Carolina Garibay, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Third Place, $5,000 award: Aurora Berry, University of Texas at Austin
Audio Championship runners-up listed in alphabetical order:
Finalist, $1,500 award: Daniel Myrick, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Finalist, $1,500 award: Dustin Wilcox, Murray State University
National Television Championship
First Place, $10,000 award: Ally Arnold O’Rullian, Brigham Young University
Second Place, $7,500 award: Bradley Davis, University of Missouri
Third Place, $5,000 award: Moriah Humiston, Syracuse University
Television Championship runners-up listed in alphabetical order:
Finalist, $1,500 award: John Perik, Syracuse University
Finalist, $1,500 award: Elyse Schoenig, University Missouri
National Multimedia Championship
First Place, $10,000 award: Lucas Pruitt, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Second Place, $7,500 award: Chris Ocana, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Third Place, $5,000 award: Angelica Edwards, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Multimedia Championship runners-up listed in alphabetical order:
Finalist, $1,500 award: Lauren Cmiel, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $1,500 award
Finalist, $1,500 award: Endiya Griffin, University of Southern California, $1,500 award
Special Awards
$1,000 award for Best Article of the Year went to Kiera Riley, Arizona State University.
$1000 award for Best Reporting Technique went to Abigail Weiss, Syracuse University.
Those awards were selected from the monthly writing competition entries.
$1,000 award for Best Single Photo from the Semi-Finals when to Noah Riffe, Pennsylvania State University.
$1,000 award for Best Portfolio from the Semi-Finals went to Alberto Mariani, Arizona State University.
$1,000 award for Best Use of Audio for News Coverage went to Daniel Myrick, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This award was selected from the monthly audio entries.
$1,000 award for Best Use of Television for News Coverage went to Ally Arnold O’Rullian, Brigham Young University. This award was selected from the semi-final entries.
$1,000 award for Best Multimedia Story of the Year went to Chris Ocana, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This award was selected from the monthly competition entries.
The writing judges were: Larry Kramer, retired President and Publisher, USA Today, VA; Maria Reeve, Executive Editor, The Houston Chronicle, TX, David Zeeck, retired President and Publisher, The (Tacoma) News Tribune, WA.
The photojournalism judges were: Marcia Allert, Managing Photo Producer, Apple, CA; Nicole Frugé, Director of Visuals, San Francisco Chronicle, CA; Mark Morris, retired Director of Photography, Sacramento Bee, Independent Visual Consultant, CA.
The audio and television judges were: Candy Altman, retired Vice President of News, Hearst Television, NY; Holly Quan, Reporter/Anchor, KCBS Radio, CA; Joe Rovitto, President, Clemensen & Rovitto LLC, PA.
The multimedia Judges were: Danese Kenon, Director of Video and Photography, Philadelphia Inquirer, PA; Jarrad Henderson, Senior Multimedia Producer – Investigative and Enterprise Video Team, USA Today, VA; Meredith Hogan, Senior Creative Producer, Red Element Studios, WA.
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 support, encourage and give assistance to journalism education through scholarships for outstanding college students. Since its inception, the program has distributed more than $14 million in scholarships and grants for the exceptional work by student journalists who participate in the program.
