San Francisco, CA – The William Randolph Hearst Foundation has announced the winners of the 65th National Championships, the culmination of the 2024–2025 Journalism Awards Program.
The annual Hearst Championships, often referred to as the “Pulitzers of College Journalism,” brought together 29 student journalists from across the country. These finalists were selected from 1,260 entries submitted throughout the academic year in 14 monthly competitions held this academic year.
From May 31 to June 5, 2025, finalists gathered in San Francisco to complete assignments under deadlines, vying for scholarship awards of up to $10,000.
National Writing Championship:
First Place, $10,000 award: Rylie Oswald, University of Kansas
Second Place, $7,500 award: Ashton Slaughter, Oklahoma State University
Third Place, $5,000 award: Sophia Abolfathi, University of Florida
Finalists – $1,500 each:
Marshall Baker, Arizona State University
Nicole Belvins, Indiana University
Lauren Brensel, University of Florida
Madison Holcomb, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Jami Martin-Trainor, University of Iowa
National Photojournalism Championship:
First Place, $10,000 award: Emilee Arnold, Western Kentucky University
Second Place, $7,500 award: Abbey Cutrer, University of Kentucky
Third Place, $5,000 award: Cara Penquite, University of Missouri
Finalists – $1,500 each:
Chad Cushing, University of Kansas
Ellie Kollme, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
National Audio Championship:
First Place, $10,000 award: Layli Nazarova, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Second Place, $7,500 award: Pierce Gentry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Third Place, $5,000 award: Henry Taylor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Finalists – $1,500 each:
Julia Boboc, University of Oregon
Blake Mace, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
National Television Championship:
First Place, $10,000 award: Nathan Lee, University of Missouri
Second Place, $7,500 award: Ricky Podgorski, University of Maryland
Third Place, $5,000 award: Denzen Cortez, Arizona State University
Finalists – $1,500 each:
Samantha Hoffman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Karina Prieto, Michigan State University
National Multimedia Championship:
First Place, $10,000 award: Faith Cabalum, Michigan State University
Second Place, $7,500 award: Brett Phelps, Western Kentucky University
Third Place, $5,000 award: Hannah Zinn, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Finalists – $1,500 each:
Max Feliu, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Madeline Powell, Western Kentucky University
National Podcast Championship:
Finalist – $1,500:
Sarah Ellis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Championship Judges:
Writing judges: 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.
Photojournalism judges: Nicole Frugé, Director of Visuals, The San Francisco Chronicle; Danny Gawlowski, Senior Manager, Communications and Policy, Carbon to Sea; and Elodie Mailliet Storm, CEO, CatchLight.
Audio, television and podcast judges: Candy Altman, retired Vice President of News, Hearst Television; Jeff Bartlett, retired President and General Manager, WMUR-TV; Holly Quan, Reporter/Anchor, KCBS Radio.
Multimedia Judges: Robert Scheer, Deputy Managing Editor for Visuals, The Post and Courier; Lauren Frohne, Lead Video Journalist, The Seattle Times; Jim Seida, Producer, NBC News.
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 1.5 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 support, encourage and give assistance to journalism education through scholarships for outstanding college students. Since its inception, the program has distributed more than $18 million in scholarships and grants for the exceptional work by student journalists who participate in the program.
