San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the Television Features Competition of the 2025-2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. 109 entries from 66 universities nationwide were submitted in the first of the program’s two television competitions.
First Place was awarded to Charlotte Cicero, a senior at the University of Missouri. Charlotte receives a $3,000 award and qualifies for the National Television Championship, which will take place in June 2026 in San Francisco.
Second-through-fifth place finalists:
Second Place, $2,000 award: Abigail Klinkerman, University of Missouri
Third Place, $1,500 award: Juan Carlos Chaoui, University of Florida
Fourth Place, $1,000 award: Ryan Murphy, Western Kentucky University
Fifth Place, $1,000 award: Anjana Dasam, Syracuse University
The top five winning schools also receive matching grants.
Sixth-through-tenth place finalists:
Sixth Place, certificate: Bethany Pryor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Seventh Place, certificate: Grace Johnson, Arizona State University
Eighth Place, certificate: Lauren Morris, Temple University
Ninth Place, certificate: Aubrey Carter, Mississippi State University
Tenth Place, certificate: Sarah Grosch, Pennsylvania State University
In the Intercollegiate Broadcast Competition, the University of Missouri is currently in the lead with the highest accumulated student points from the first of four broadcast competitions.
Following in the rankings are:
Arizona State University
Western Kentucky University (tie)
University of Florida (tie)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Syracuse University
Florida International University
Temple University (tie)
University of South Carolina (tie)
The top three universities in the Intercollegiate Broadcast Competition will earn $10,000, $5,000, and $2,500 in prizes, with final results announced in April after the completion of the audio, podcast and second television competition.
The competition’s broadcast judges are Candy Altman, retired Vice President of News at Hearst Television; Jeff Bartlett, retired President and General Manager of WMUR-TV; and Scott Herman, Chairman of Broadcasters Foundation of America.
The Hearst Journalism Awards Program, now in its 66th year, added broadcast journalism competitions in 1988. In addition to the broadcast competitions, the program also includes four writing, two photojournalism, and four multimedia competitions, offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants, and stipends. The program is open to accredited undergraduate journalism programs from 105 universities within the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication.
