San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the 2025-2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program’s Television News competition. There were a record 85 entries from 52 universities submitted in our second television
competition of the year.

First Place is awarded to Bernardo Montás, a senior at the University of Florida. Bernardo 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, Moira Vaughan, Syracuse University
Third Place, $1,500 award, Ellie Compton, University of Missouri
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Juan Carlos Chaoui, University of Florida
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Lauren Morris, Temple University

The top five winning schools also receive matching grants.

Sixth-through-tenth place finalists:
Sixth Place, certificate, Eddy Calkins, University of Maryland
Seventh Place, certificate, Abigail Klinkerman, University of Missouri
Eighth Place, certificate, Jax Crall, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Ninth Place, certificate, Olivia Bennett, Eastern Illinois University
Tenth Place, certificate, Macy Markham, Arizona State University

In the Intercollegiate Broadcast Competition, the University of Missouri is currently in the lead with the highest accumulated student points after the first three broadcast competitions.
Following in the rankings are:
Syracuse University
University of Florida
Arizona State University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Temple University
University of Maryland
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Pennsylvania State University

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 May after the completion of the podcast competition.

The competition’s judges included Candy Altman, retired Vice President of News at Hearst Television; Jeff Bartlett, retired President and General Manager of WMUR-TV; and Scott Herman, Chairman, 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 104 universities within the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication.

San Francisco – Winners have been announced in Multimedia Enterprise Story Competition of the 2025-2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. The winners were selected from 78 entries from 48 schools submitted in the third multimedia competition of the year.

First Place has been awarded to Amelie Fawson, a senior from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Amelie wins a $3,000 scholarship for the story titled “The Magic of Marshall.” Amelie also qualifies for the Hearst Multimedia Championship in June 2026.

Other top five winners:
Second Place, $2,000 award, Sean McInnis, Western Kentucky University
Third Place, $1,500 award, Jay Byrd, Western Kentucky University
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Nicole Borman, University of Florida
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Maya Wasik, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The top five winning schools will receive matching grants.

Sixth-through-tenth place finalists:
Sixth Place, certificate, Chloe Fitzgibbon, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Seventh Place, certificate, Lori Saxena, Stony Brook University
Eighth Place, certificate, Elia Mast, University of Missouri
Ninth Place, certificate, Willie Gillespie, University of Oklahoma
Tenth Place, certificate, Alexis Baker, University of Kentucky

Western Kentucky University is leading the Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition with the highest student points from the three multimedia competitions held so far.

They are followed by:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Florida
University of Southern California
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Pennsylvania State University
Syracuse University
Michigan State University
University of Missouri
University of Kentucky

The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 respectively. The final intercollegiate winners will be announced after the completion of the four multimedia competitions and presented during the National Championships in San Francisco this June.

The multimedia judges are: Lauren Frohne, Lead Video Journalist, The Seattle Times; Jim Seida, Producer, NBC News; Ed Ou, Visual Journalist/Documentary Filmmaker.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program added multimedia to its competition roster in 2010.
Now in its 66th year, the program includes four writing, two photo, one audio, two television, one podcast and four multimedia competitions offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends. Currently, there are 104 universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.

San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the Photojournalism Picture Story/Series Competition of the 2025-2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. The winners were selected from 82 entries from 49
schools submitted in the second photo competition of the year.

First Place has been awarded to Annie George, a senior from University of Missouri. Annie wins a $3,000 scholarship and qualifies for the National Photojournalism Championship in June 2026.

Second Place, $2,000 award, Ben Pennington, Ohio University
Third Place, $1,500 award, Christian Kantosky, University of Kentucky
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Bradi Hawkins, Western Kentucky University
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Ben Hanson, California State University, Northridge

The top five winning schools will receive matching grants.

Sixth-through-tenth place finalists:
Sixth Place, certificate, Grace Richards, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Seventh Place, certificate, Ari Saperstein, Michigan State University
Eighth Place, certificate, Marley Barboeisel, University of Montana
Ninth Place, certificate, Blake Fagan, California State University, Northridge
Tenth Place, certificate, Ike Wood, Syracuse University

The University of Montana has won the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition with the highest
student points from the two photo competitions.

They are followed by:
California State University, Northridge
University of Missouri
Pennsylvania State University
Ohio University
University of Kentucky
Michigan State University (tie)
Western Kentucky University (tie)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Oregon

The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 respectively, which will be presented
during the National Championships in June.

The photojournalism judges are: Danny Gawlowski, Senior Manager, Communications and Policy, Carbon to Sea; and Elodie Mailliet Storm, CEO, CatchLight; Boyzell Hosey, Senior Editor for Visual Storytelling, ProPublica.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program introduced photojournalism to its competitions in 1970. Now in its 66th year, the program includes four writing competitions, two photojournalism competitions, one audio, two
television, one podcast, and four multimedia competitions. Together, they offer up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants, and stipends. Currently, 104 universities with accredited undergraduate journalism programs—members of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication—are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.

San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the Personality/Profile Writing Competition of the 2025-2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. The winners were selected from 130 entries from 82 schools submitted in the third writing competition of the year.

First Place has been awarded to Claire Bernard, a senior from University of Montana.
Claire wins a $3,000 award for the article “‘Nine hundred seventy-five days.” Claire also qualifies for the National Writing Championship in June 2026.

Second Place, $2,000 award, Lola White, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Third Place, $1,500 award, Tarryn Nichols, University of Florida
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Neva Drane, University of Georgia
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Karla Perez, University of Connecticut

The top five winning schools will receive matching grants.

Sixth-through-tenth place finalists:
Sixth Place, certificate, Lauren Brensel, University of Florida
Seventh Place, certificate, Riley Fox, University of Oregon
Eighth Place, certificate, Sana Mahmud, University of Southern California
Ninth Place, certificate, Alexandra Wenskoski, Pennsylvania State University
Tenth Place, certificate, Maddy Wells, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

University of Florida currently leads the Intercollegiate Writing Competition, having earned the highest total
student points across three writing competitions held so far.

They are followed by:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Pennsylvania State University
Syracuse University
University of Colorado
University of Oregon
University of Missouri
Kent State University
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Southern California

The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 respectively. The final intercollegiate
winners will be announced after the completion of the four writing competitions and presented during the National Championships in San Francisco this June.

The writing judges are: Sue Campbell, Editor, Food and Culture, Minnesota Star Tribune; Suki Dardarian, retired journalist/former editor, Minnesota Star Tribune; Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, Editor in Chief, San Francisco Chronicle.

The 66th annual Hearst Journalism Awards Program includes four writing, two photo, one audio, two television, one podcast and four multimedia competitions offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends.  Currently, there are 104 universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.

San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the Innovative Storytelling Competition of the 2025-2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. The winners were selected from 42 entries from 25 schools submitted in the second multimedia competition of the year.

First Place has been awarded to Myah Griffin, a junior from Western Kentucky University. Myah wins a $3,000 scholarship for the story titled “Collecting Memories.” Myah also qualifies for the Hearst Multimedia Championship in June 2026.

Other top five winners:

Second Place, $2,000 award, Nithya Sunkara Indlamuri, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Third Place, $1,500 award, Jinglin Jingan, University of Southern California
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Nina Moothedath, University of Southern California
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Maya Kolton, Michigan State University

The top five winning schools will receive matching grants.

Sixth-through-tenth place finalists:
Sixth Place, certificate, Nicole Borman, University of Florida
Seventh Place, certificate, Emilee Arnold, Western Kentucky University
Eighth Place, certificate, Kairi Lowery, University of Florida
Ninth Place, certificate, Nathan Olszewski, Syracuse University
Tenth Place, certificate, Alli Satterfield, Pennsylvania State University

Western Kentucky University is leading the Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition with the highest student points from the two multimedia competitions held so far.

They are followed by:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Florida
Southern California University
Pennsylvania State University
Syracuse University
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Michigan State University
University of Missouri
University of Kentucky (tie)
University of Maryland (tie)

The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 respectively. The final intercollegiate
winners will be announced after the completion of the four multimedia competitions and presented during the National Championships in San Francisco this June.

The multimedia judges are: Lauren Frohne, Lead Video Journalist, The Seattle Times; Jim Seida, Producer, NBC News; Ed Ou, Visual Journalist/Documentary Filmmaker.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program added multimedia to its competition roster in 2010.
Now in its 66th year, the program includes four writing, two photo, one audio, two television, one podcast and four multimedia competitions offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends. Currently, there are 104 universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.

San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the 2025-2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program’s Audio News and/or Features Competition. Five audio winners qualify for the National Championships in June, along with qualifying television, writing, photojournalism and multimedia finalists.

There were a record 78 entries from 51 universities submitted in this competition.

The top audio winners are:
First Place, $3,000 award, Boone Kilpatrick, Syracuse University *
Second Place, $2,000 award, Evan Fay, Syracuse University *
Third Place, $1,500 award, Julia Boboc, University of Oregon *
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Sofia Zarran, University of Florida
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Maddie Policastro, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill *
Sixth Place, certificate, Erika Konig, University of Memphis *

* These finalists qualify for the 2026 National Audio Championship this June.

The seventh-through-tenth place finalists are:

Seventh Place, certificate, Lilley Halloran, University of Missouri
Eighth Place, certificate, Pierce Gentry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Ninth Place, certificate, Kierra Evans, Louisiana State University
Tenth Place, certificate, Shane Darling, Marshall University

The University of Missouri is currently in the lead with the highest accumulated student points in the Intercollegiate Broadcast Competition.

Following in the rankings are:

Syracuse University
University of Florida
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Arizona State University
University of Tennessee, Knoxville-tie
University of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign-tie
Pennsylvania State University
University of Oregon
Mississippi State University

The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 respectively, and will be announced after the completion of Broadcast competitions and presented at the National Championships in San Francisco this June.

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 104 universities within the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication.

San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the Sports Writing Competition of the 2025-2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. The winners were selected from a record 150 entries from 83 schools submitted in the second writing competition of the year.

First Place has been awarded to Lincoln Roch, a senior from University of Colorado.
Lincoln wins a $3,000 scholarship for the article “‘Slurs and harassment at BYU game alienate Mormon CU
students.” Lincoln also qualifies for the National Writing Championship in June 2026.

Second Place, $2,000 award, Lily Newman, Syracuse University
Third Place, $1,500 award, Jessica Garcete, University of Florida
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Gage Wellman, Kent State University
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Sophie Fowler, University of Oregon

The top five winning schools will receive matching grants.

Sixth-through-tenth place finalists:
Sixth Place, certificate, Greg Finberg, Pennsylvania State University
Seventh Place, certificate, Claire Huss, University of Maryland
Eighth Place, certificate, Jacob Tukker, University of Missouri
Ninth Place, certificate, Ally Larkin, University of Nevada, Reno
Tenth Place, certificate, Gabby Rogers, Indiana University

Syracuse University leads the intercollegiate writing competition with the highest accumulated student points from the two writing competitions held thus far.

They are followed by:
University of Florida
University of Colorado
Pennsylvania State University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Missouri
Colorado State University
Elon University
University of Oregon (tie)
Kent State University (tie)

The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 respectively. The final intercollegiate
winners will be announced after the completion of the four writing competitions and presented during the National Championships in San Francisco this June.

The writing judges are: Sue Campbell, Editor, Food and Culture, Minnesota Star Tribune; Suki Dardarian, retired journalist/former editor, Minnesota Star Tribune; Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, Editor in Chief, San Francisco Chronicle.

The 66th annual Hearst Journalism Awards Program includes four writing, two photo, one audio, two television, one podcast and four multimedia competitions offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends.  Currently, there are 104 universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.

San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the Feature Writing Competition of the 2025-2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. The winners were selected from a record 162 entries from 87 schools submitted in the first writing competition of the year.

First Place has been awarded to Hannah Parcells, a senior from Colorado State University. Hannah wins a $3,000 scholarship for the article “‘It’s going to happen to someone else’: Students allege use of date-rape drugs at off-campus fraternity parties, accuse CSU of inaction.”
Hannah also qualifies for the National Writing Championship in June 2026.

Second Place, $2,000 award, Betsy Schlehuber, Elon University
Third Place, $1,500 award, Sarah Mulu, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Peggy Dodd, University of Oklahoma
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Noah Weinberg, Syracuse University

The top five winning schools will receive matching grants.

Sixth-through-tenth place finalists:
Sixth Place, certificate, Brian Eife, Pennsylvania State University
Seventh Place, certificate, Lincoln Roch, University of Colorado
Eighth Place, certificate, Yana Savitsky, University of Southern California
Ninth Place, certificate, Siena Duncan, University of Florida
Tenth Place, certificate, Bailey Zitko, San Francisco State University

Syracuse University is leading in the Intercollegiate Writing Competition with the highest student point totals in the first of four writing competitions.

They are followed by:
Colorado State University
Elon University
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Florida
University of Oklahoma
Pennsylvania State University
University of Colorado (tie)
University of Southern California (tie)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 respectively. The final intercollegiate
winners will be announced after the completion of the four writing competitions and presented during the National Championships in San Francisco this June.

The writing judges are: Sue Campbell, Editorial/Food Culture, Minnesota Star Tribune; Suki Dardarian, retired journalist/former editor, Minnesota Star Tribune; Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, Editor in Chief, San Francisco Chronicle.

The 66th annual Hearst Journalism Awards Program includes four writing, two photo, one audio, two television, one podcast and four multimedia competitions offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends.  Currently, there are 104 universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.

San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the Photojournalism News & Features Competition of the 2025-2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. The winners were selected from 134 entries from 72 schools
submitted in the first photo competition of the year.

First Place has been awarded to Maddie McCuddy, a December graduate from University of Montana. Maddie wins a $3,000 scholarship and qualifies for the National Photojournalism Championship in June 2026.

Second Place, $2,000 award, Nia Meyers, Pennsylvania State University
Third Place, $1,500 award, Blake Fagan, California State University, Northridge
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Ben Pennington, Ohio University
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Alex Antoniono, Pennsylvania State University

The top five winning schools will receive matching grants.

Sixth-through-tenth place finalists:
Sixth Place, certificate, Ari Saperstein, Michigan State University
Seventh Place, certificate, Dominic Di Palermo, Western Kentucky University
Eighth Place, certificate, Marley Barboeisel, University of Montana
Ninth Place, certificate, Charlotte Keene, University of Texas at Austin
Tenth Place, certificate, Michael Baniewicz, University of Missouri

The University of Montana and Pennsylvania State University share first place in the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition, holding the highest combined student points after the first of two photo
competitions held annually.

They are followed by:
Western Kentucky University
California State University, Northridge
University of Missouri
Michigan State University (tie)
Ohio University (tie)
University of Texas at Austin
University of Florida (tie)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (tie)

The final Intercollegiate winners will be announced after the Photo II competition in April.
The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 respectively, which will be presented
during the National Championships in June.

The photojournalism judges are: Danny Gawlowski, Senior Manager, Communications and Policy, Carbon to Sea; and Elodie Mailliet Storm, CEO, CatchLight; Boyzell Hosey, Senior Editor for Visual Storytelling, ProPublica.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program introduced photojournalism to its competitions in 1970. Now in its 66th year, the program includes four writing competitions, two photojournalism competitions, one audio, two
television, one podcast, and four multimedia competitions. Together, they offer up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants, and stipends. Currently, 104 universities with accredited undergraduate journalism programs—members of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication—are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.

San Francisco – Winners have been announced in the Narrative Video Storytelling Competition of the 2025-2026 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. The winners were selected from 97 entries from 57 schools submitted in the first multimedia competition of the year.

First Place has been awarded to Quincy Marks, a 2025 graduate from University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. Quincy wins a $3,000 scholarship for the story titled “One Percent Chance.”

Second-place winner Aayas D. Joshi, a senior from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wins $2,000 for the story titled, “Adrift: Forgiving the Flood.” Aayas also qualifies for the Hearst Multimedia Championship in June 2026.

Other top five winners:
Third Place, $1,500 award, Ashleigh Lucas, University of Florida
Fourth Place, $1,000 award, Jindong Tian, Pennsylvania State University
Fifth Place, $1,000 award, Adin Parks, Western Kentucky University

The top five winning schools will receive matching grants.

Sixth-through-tenth place finalists:
Sixth Place, certificate, Von Smith, Western Kentucky University
Seventh Place, certificate, Reese Niccolls, Syracuse University
Eighth Place, certificate, Jackson Ingvoldstad, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Ninth Place, certificate, Nicole Borman, University of Florida
Tenth Place, certificate, Collin Snyder, Syracuse University

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is in first place in the Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition with the highest accumulated student points in the first multimedia competition.
They are followed by:
Western Kentucky University
University of Florida
Pennsylvania State University
Syracuse University
Florida International University
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Alabama
University of Montana
University of Missouri

The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $5,000 and $2,500 respectively. The final intercollegiate
winners will be announced after the completion of the four multimedia competitions and presented during the National Championships in San Francisco this June.

The multimedia judges are: Lauren Frohne, Lead Video Journalist, The Seattle Times; Jim Seida, Producer, NBC News; Ed Ou, Visual Journalist/Documentary Filmmaker.

The 66th annual Hearst Journalism Awards Program includes four writing, two photo, one audio, two television, one podcast and four multimedia competitions offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends.  Currently, there are 104 universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.