2020-21 Hearst Photojournalism II Winners Announced

San Francisco – The Hearst Foundation announces the winners in the Photojournalism Picture Story/Series
Competition of the 2020-2021 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. The winners in the second photo competition of the year were selected from 91 entries submitted from 54 universities nationwide.

First place has been awarded to Angelica Edwards, a junior from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Angelica receives a $3,000 scholarship award and qualifies for the 2021 Photojournalism Championship which will take place this June.

Second place, $2,000 scholarship, is awarded to Michael Blackshire from Western Kentucky University. Michael is a summer 2020 graduate and, per program guidelines, is not eligible for the semi-final round.

The other top winners in this competition, along with the top finalists from the Photo I competition, will submit additional photographs for the semi-final round of judging in April. Four finalists will be selected from that round to compete in the National Championships, along with writing, audio, television and multimedia finalists.

The qualifiers for the semi-final round:

Third Place, $1,500 award, Sam Mallon, Western Kentucky University

Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Austin Johnson, University of Oregon

Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Isaac Ritchey, Central Michigan University

Sixth Place, certificate, Leslie Ostronic, Ohio University

The top five winning schools receive matching grants.

The seventh-through-tenth place finalists are:

Seventh Place, certificate, Rebecca Slezak, Ball State University

Eighth Place, certificate, Julia Nikhinson, University of Maryland

Ninth Place, certificate, Eloise Kelsey, San Francisco State University

Tenth Place, certificate, Laura Bilson, Ohio University

Western Kentucky University has won the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition with the highest
accumulated student points from the two photo competitions held this year.

It is followed by: 
Ohio University; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Montana; University of Kentucky; Ball State University (tie); Pennsylvania State University (tie); University of Oregon; University of Florida; Syracuse University.

The top three Intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $4,000 and $2,000 respectively.

The photojournalism judges are: Marcia Allert, Director of Visual Journalism, The Dallas Morning News; Luis Rios, Director of Photography, San Antonio Express-News; Mark Morris, Independent Visual Consultant.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program added photojournalism to the competitions in 1970. The program also
includes five writing, one audio, two television, and four multimedia competitions offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends.


The 61st Annual Hearst Journalism Awards Program is conducted under the auspices of accredited schools of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication and fully funded and administered by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.  103 member universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst
competitions.