2019-20 Television

2020 Television Championship

This year, 175 entries were submitted in the Features and News television competitions. The first-place winners of those competitions qualified for the Championship. In addition, eight top finalists from those competitions submitted entries for a semi-final round of judging. From that round, three additional finalists were selected to participate in the Hearst National Television Championship.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the in-person even slated for Houston, TX was replaced by a virtual competition.

The judges Candy Altman, May Lynn Roper and Fred Young met the finalists via video conferencing for mentorship and to review the spot assignment. The finalists then produced their Championship stories from home.

The assignment: A two-minute piece on “The sights and sounds go Covid-19 and how it has shaped my life and career path.”

The first-through-third place winners were awarded scholarships of $10,000, $7,500, and $5,000 respectively.

The two finalists earned $1,500 scholarships each.

An additional $1,000 award for Best Use of Television for News Coverage was selected from the semi-final competition submissions.

The winners and finalists are featured below.

Winners

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Payton Tysinger
First Place
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
$10,000 scholarship

Finalists

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Valerie Lyons
Finalist
University of Florida
$1,500 scholarship

Additional Award

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Cambria Haro
Best Use of Television for News Coverage
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
$1,000 scholarship