NEWS RELEASE
2014 HEARST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Washington, DC – Winning college journalists in the National Writing, Photojournalism, Broadcast News and Multimedia Championships were announced on June 5, 2014 by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program.
The Hearst Championships are the culmination of the 2013 – 2014 Journalism Awards Program, which are held in 105 member colleges and universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs.
From June 2 through June 5, 29 finalists – all winners from the 14 monthly competitions – participated in the 54th annual Hearst Championships in Washington, D.C. where they demonstrated their writing, photography, radio, television and multimedia skills in rigorous on-the-spot assignments. The assignments were decided by media professionals who judged the finalists’ work throughout the year and at the Championships. Winners were announced during the final awards ceremony on June 5th at the Newseum. The following are the first, second and third-place winners and the scholarships they received:
NATIONAL WRITING CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Anastasia Orso, Pennsylvania State University, $5,000 award
Second Place, Christina Gallagher, Pennsylvania State University, $4,000 award
Third Place, Jessica Tully, Pennsylvania State University, $3,000 award
NATIONAL PHOTOJOURNALISM CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Jabin Botsford, Western Kentucky University, $5,000 award
Second Place, Zachary Wittman, Central Michigan University, $4,000 award
Third Place, Danny Guy, Western Kentucky University, $3,000 award
NATIONAL RADIO BROADCAST NEWS CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Christopher Allen, University of Montana, $5,000 award
Second Place, Ruth Eddy, University of Montana, $4,000 award
Third Place, Charles J. Shelton, U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $3,000 award
NATIONAL TELEVISION BROADCAST NEWS CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Shayne Dwyer, Arizona State University, $5,000 award
Second Place, Matt Rascon, Brigham Young University, $4,000 award
Third Place, Omar Jimenez, Northwestern University, $3,000 award
NATIONAL MULTIMEDIA CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Carolyn Van Houten, U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $5,000 award
Second Place, Kaylee Everly, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, $4,000 award
Third Place, Samuel L. Gause, University of Missouri, $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):
Lauren Caruba, Northwestern University
Jessica Contrera, Indiana University
Megan Jula, Indiana University
Michael Majchrowicz, Indiana University
Katherine Mettler, Indiana University
The $1,000 Award for Best Reporting Technique went to Katherine Mettler, Indiana University.
The Article of the Year Award of $1,000 went to Anastasia Orso, Pennsylvania State University.
Three finalists in the Photojournalism Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarships (listed in alphabetical order):
Ian C. Bates, Ohio University
Brittany Greeson, Western Kentucky University
Yue Wu, Iowa State University
The $1,000 Award for Best Single Photograph went to Jabin Botsford, Western Kentucky University;
and the Best Portfolio Award of $1,000 also went to Jabin Botsford, Western Kentucky. 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):
Jerome Campbell, University of Southern California
Mitchel Skinner, University of Minnesota
Two finalists in the Television Broadcast News Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarships (listed in alphabetical order):
Landon Astor Dowdy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Brynne Whittaker, University of Missouri
The $1,000 Award for Best Use of Radio For News Coverage went to Charles J. Shelton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Best Use of Television For News Coverage Award of $1,000 went to Shayne Dwyer, Arizona State University. Those awards were selected from the monthly entries.
Two finalists in the Multimedia Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarships (listed in alphabetical order):
Eric Shea, Western Kentucky University
Adam Wolffbrandt, Western Kentucky University
The $1,000 Award for Best Multimedia Story of the Year went to Samuel L. Gause, University of Missouri, which was selected from the monthly competition entries.
The Awards Ceremony was held at the Newseum. David J. Barrett, Director, Hearst Corporation, delivered the keynote speech of the evening.
The writing judges were: Arthur Brisbane, Visiting Knight Professor of Journalism Ethics, Washington & Lee University; Marty Kaiser, Editor and Senior Vice President, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and Mike Leary, Senior Vice President and Editor, San Antonio Express-News.
The photojournalism judges were: Steve Gonzales, Director of Photography, Houston Chronicle, Sue Morrow, Assistant Director of Multimedia, Sacramento Bee; and Jakub Mosur, Freelance Photographer.
The broadcast news judges were: Marci Burdick, Senior Vice President, Schurz Communications, Inc.; Edward Esposito, Vice President, Information Media, Rubber City Radio Group; and Fred Young, retired Senior Vice President of News, Hearst Television Inc.
The Multimedia Judges were: Cory Haik, Executive Producer and Senior Editor for Digital News, The Washington Post; Sue Morrow, Assistant Director of Multimedia, Sacramento Bee; and Kate O’Brian, President, Al Jazeera America.
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 nearly 1 billion dollars to numerous educational programs, health and medical care, human services and the arts in every state.
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Contact:
Jan C. Watten, Program Director
jwatten@hearstfdn.org
hearstawards.org
