San Francisco – Winning college journalists in the 64th National Writing, Photojournalism, Audio, Television and Multimedia Championships were announced on June 6, 2024 by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program.
The Hearst Championships are the culmination of the 2023 – 2024 Journalism Awards Program, which were held in 105 member universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs.
The 29 Championship finalists were selected 1,315 entries submitted in the 14 monthly competitions this academic year. From June 1 – 6, 2024, the finalists participated in the National Championship 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: Marissa Meador, Indiana University
Second Place, $7,500 award: Lia Salvatierra, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Third Place, $5,000 award: Keetra Bippus, Arizona State University
Writing Championship runners-up listed in alphabetical order:
Finalist, $1,500 award: Elliott Deins, University of Oregon
Finalist, $1,500 award: Sinclair Holian, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Finalist, $1,500 award: Lincoln Roch, Drake University
Finalist, $1,500 award: Ashton Slaughter, Oklahoma State University
Finalist, $1,500 award: Nick Stonesifer, Pennsylvania State University
National Photojournalism Championship
First Place, $10,000 award: Anna Connors, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Second Place, $7,500 award: Owen Ziliak, University of Missouri
Third Place, $5,000 award: Brett Phelps, Western Kentucky University
Photo Championship runners-up listed in alphabetical order:
Finalist, $1,500 award: Benjamin Fanjoy, San Francisco State University
Finalist, $1,500 award: Audrey Richardson, Michigan State University
Finalist, $1,500 award: Grace Smith, University of Iowa
National Audio Championship
First Place, $10,000 award: Ronald Parrillo, Syracuse University
Second Place, $7,500 award: Henry Taylor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Third Place, $5,000 award: Sierra Pfeifer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Audio Championship runners-up listed in alphabetical order:
Finalist, $1,500 award: Mel Bridges, Louisiana State University
Finalist, $1,500 award: Kai Williams, University of Montana
National Television Championship
First Place, $10,000 award: John Perik, Syracuse University
Second Place, $7,500 award: Denzen Cortez, Arizona State University
Third Place, $5,000 award: Steven Schlink, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Television Championship runners-up listed in alphabetical order:
Finalist, $1,500 award: Chilekasi Adele, Syracuse University
Finalist, $1,500 award: Tabitha Bland, Arizona State University
National Multimedia Championship
First Place, $10,000 award: Rhiannon Johnston, Western Kentucky University
Second Place, $7,500 award: Serra Sowers, University of Florida
Third Place, $5,000 award: Marilee Combs, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Multimedia Championship runners-up listed in alphabetical order:
Finalist, $1,500 award: McKenzie Bulris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Finalist, $1,500 award: Murphy McFarlane, Syracuse University
Special Awards
$1,000 award for Best Article of the Year went to Sinclair Holian, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
$1,000 award for Best Reporting Technique went to Keetra Bippus, Arizona State University
Honorable Mention, Best Written Article went to: Lia Salvatierra, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
These awards were selected from the monthly writing competition entries.
$1,000 award for Best Single Photo went to Emily Nyberg, University of Iowa
$1,000 award for Best Portfolio went to Owen Ziliak, University of Missouri
These awards were selected from the monthly photo competition entries.
$1,000 award for Best Use of Audio went to Henry Taylor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This award was selected from the monthly audio competition entries.
$1,000 award for Best Use of Television went to Denzen Cortez, Arizona State University. This award was selected from the monthly competition entries.
$1,000 award for Best Multimedia Story of the Year went to Rhiannon Johnston, Western Kentucky University. This award was selected from the monthly competition entries.
The writing judges were: Maria Reeve, Managing Editor/Vice President, The Star Tribune; Sue Campbell, Editorial Director, AME/Features, Star Tribune Magazine; David Callaway, Founder and Editor, Callaway Climate Insights.
The photojournalism judges were: Marcia Allert, Managing Photo Producer, Apple; Nicole Frugé, Director of Visuals, The San Francisco Chronicle; Danny Gawlowski, Assistant Managing Editor, The Seattle Times.
The audio and television judges were: Candy Altman, retired Vice President of News, Hearst Television; Jeff Bartlett, retired President and General Manager, WMUR-TV; Holly Quan, Reporter/Anchor, KCBS Radio.
The multimedia Judges were: Meredith Hogan, Senior Creative Producer, Red Element Studios; Danese Kenon, Managing Editor of Visuals, Philadelphia Inquirer; Robert Scheer, Deputy Managing Editor for Visuals, The Post and Courier.
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 $15 million in scholarships and grants for the exceptional work by student journalists who participate in the program.
