San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the Explanatory Reporting Competition of the 2023-2024 Hearst Journalism Awards Program.
There were 123 entries from 74 schools submitted in the second writing competition of the academic year.
First Place has been awarded to Alan Halaly, a senior from University of Florida. Alan will receive a $3,000 scholarship for the winning article “When the Storm Hits” published in WUFT.org. Alan is not able to participate in the Hearst National Writing Championship.
The second-place winner Sinclair Holian, a senior from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill qualifies for the National Championship. Sinclair will receive a $2,000 award for the winning article “Land Loss and Legacy on Historic Black-owned Farmland.”
The other top finalists are:
Third place, $1,500 award, David Blakeley, San Francisco State University
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Mika Travis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Madison Powers, Elon University
The top five winning schools receive matching grants.
The sixth-through-tenth place finalists are:
Sixth Place, certificate, Angelique Gingras, University of Maryland
Seventh Place, certificate, Amanda McCard, University of Connecticut
Eighth Place, certificate, Jack O’Connor, University of Minnesota
Ninth Place, certificate, Alexis Weisend, University of Oregon
Tenth place, certificate, Samuel Larreal, Florida International University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is in first place in the Intercollegiate Writing Competition with the
highest accumulated student points from the first two writing competitions of the year. They are followed by: University of Florida; Drake University; Indiana University; Oklahoma State University; University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Elon University; University of Minnesota (tie); Arizona State University (tie); San Francisco State University.
The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $4,000 and $2,000 respectively. The final intercollegiate
winners will be announced after the completion of all five writing competitions in May.
The writing judges are: Maria Reeve, Managing Editor/Vice President, The Star Tribune; Sue Campbell, Managing Editor, Features, The Star Tribune; David Callaway, Founder and Editor, Callaway Climate Insights.
The Journalism Awards Program, now in its 64th year, also includes two photojournalism, one audio, two
television, and four multimedia competitions. The program offers up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends. 105 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.
