The Hearst Journalism Awards Program was founded in 1960 to provide support, encouragement and assistance to journalism education at the college and university level. The program awards scholarships to students for
outstanding performance in university-level journalism, with matching grants to the students’ schools.

The 66th annual program, offering up to $700,000 in awards, consists of four monthly writing competitions,
two photojournalism competitions, one audio competition, one podcast competition, two television competitions, and four
multimedia competitions – with championship finals in all divisions except podcast.

Participation in the program is open to undergraduate journalism majors or minors currently enrolled in
ACEJMC – accredited domestic universities. An exception to the journalism major/minor requirement is made for students entering the photojournalism competitions. Entrants must be actively involved in campus media and must have published articles, photographs or produced newscasts or multimedia pieces that can be submitted in the writing, photojournalism, audio, podcast, television and/or multimedia competitions.

The William Randolph Hearst Foundation was established by its namesake, publisher William Randolph Hearst, in 1948 under California non-profit laws, exclusively for educational and charitable purposes. Since then, The Hearst Foundations have contributed more than one billion dollars in the areas of education, health care, social services and the arts throughout the country.