2015 HEARST NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS ANNOUNCED
San Francisco – Winning college journalists in the National Writing, Photojournalism, Broadcast News and Multimedia Championships were announced on June 4, 2015 by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program.
The Hearst Championships are the culmination of the 2014 – 2015 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 June 1 through June 4, 29 finalists – all winners from the 14 monthly competitions – participated in the 55th 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. Winners were announced during the final awards ceremony on June 4th at the Westin St. Francis Hotel. The following are the first, second and third-place winners and the scholarships they received:
NATIONAL WRITING CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Samantha Schmidt, Indiana University, $5,000 award
Second Place, Cody Stavenhagen, Oklahoma State University, $4,000 award
Third Place, Hannah Fleace, Indiana University, $3,000 award
NATIONAL PHOTOJOURNALISM CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Carolyn Van Houten, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, $5,000 award
Second Place, Andrew Renneisen, Syracuse University, $4,000 award
Third Place, Leah Klafczynski, Kent State University, $3,000 award
NATIONAL RADIO BROADCAST NEWS CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Charles J. Shelton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $5,000 award
Second Place, Madelyn Beck, University of Montana, $4,000 award
Third Place, Parth Shah, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $3,000 award
NATIONAL TELEVISION BROADCAST NEWS CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Megan Thompson, Arizona State University, $5,000 award
Second Place, Susanna Black, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,, $4,000 award
Third Place, Landon Miller, University of Nevada, Reno, $3,000 award
NATIONAL MULTIMEDIA CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, Adam Wolffbrandt, Western Kentucky University, $5,000 award
Second Place, Erin Patrick O’Connor, Arizona State University, $4,000 award
Third Place, Emily Rhyne, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, $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):
Emilie Eaton, Arizona State University
Evan Hoopfer, Indiana University
Megan Jula, Indiana University
Michael Majchrowicz, Indiana University
Faiz Siddiqui, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
The $1,000 Award for Best Reporting Technique went to Samantha Schmidt, Indiana University.
The Article of the Year Award of $1,000 went to Hannah Fleace, Indiana University.
Three finalists in the Photojournalism Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarships
(listed in alphabetical order):
Callaghan O’Hare, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Timothy Tai, University of Missouri
Zachary Wittman, Central Michigan University
The $1,000 Award for Best Single Photograph went to Timothy Tai, University of Missouri;
and the Best Portfolio Award of $1,000 also went to Andrew Renneisen, Syracuse 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):
Logan Heley, University of Southern California
James Torrez, University of Florida
The $1,000 Award for Best Use of Radio For News Coverage went to Charles J. Shelton, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Two finalists in the Television Broadcast News Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarships (listed in alphabetical order):
Jeremy Harris, Brigham Young University
Anastassia Olmos, University of Southern California
The Best Use of Television For News Coverage Award of $1,000 went to Megan Thompson,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):
Jessica Boehm, Arizona State University
Katie Meek, Western Kentucky University
The $1,000 Award for Best Multimedia Story of the Year went to Emily Rhyne, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, which was selected from the monthly competition entries.
The writing judges were: Arthur Brisbane, retired Editor and Corporate Executive, Knight Ridder Newspapers; Nicole Carroll, Vice President/News and Executive Editor, The Arizona Republic; and Mike Leary, Senior Vice President and Editor, San Antonio Express-News.
The photojournalism judges were: Sue Morrow, Assistant Multimedia Director, Sacramento Bee, CA; Jakub Mosur, Freelance Photographer, San Francisco, CA; Kenneth Irby, Senior Faculty, Director of Community Relations & Diversity Programs, The Poynter Institute, St. Petersburg, FL.
The broadcast news judges were: Marci Burdick, Senior Vice President of Broadcasting, Schurz Communications, Inc., Michawaka, IN; Harvey Nagler, Vice President, Radio, CBS News, New York, NY; and Fred Young, retired Senior Vice President of News, Hearst Television Inc., Yardley, PA.
The Multimedia Judges were: Tiffany Campbell, Managing Editor, Digital, WBUR 90.9, Arlington, VA; Sue Morrow, Assistant Multimedia Director, Sacramento Bee, CA; Kate O’Brian, President, Al Jazeera America, New York, 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.
# # #
Contact:
Jan C. Watten, Program Director
jwatten@hearstfdn.org
