2008 National Championship
June 1-6, 2008
The 48th Annual National Hearst Journalism Awards Championship was the culmination of the 2007-2008 monthly competitions. 24 finalists with top scores in those competitions gathered in San Francisco to demonstrate their abilities in on-the-spot assignments and compete for additional scholarship awards of up to $5,000. The writing, photojournalism, radio broadcast and television broadcast finalists, along with program judges, Journalism Deans, and special guests convened the first week of June for this unique event.
The 8 writing finalists interviewed Chef and Restaurateur Alice Waters. They produced a news story of the interview and a personality/profile about her. In addition, they researched and wrote an on-the-spot article about “going green” in San Francisco. The photo finalists were given three assignments: a photo story about “going green,” a single image representing the Democratic presidential primary race, and a “wild card” image of their choosing. The radio and television finalists were assigned a story about the current economic downturn and its effect on the average person, on restaurants and on farmer’s markets. The judges received the completed articles, images, CDs and DVDs by the morning of June 5th for review. The winners were announced that evening during the awards ceremony at the Exploratorium Museum.