2026 Writing Championship
From the 507 writing entries received in the 2025-2026 writing competitions, the following finalists’ competition articles qualified them for the Hearst National Writing
Championship, where they competed for additional scholarship awards.
On Sunday May 31, shortly after arriving in San Francisco, the finalists met with the judges for orientation and assignments. This year, the finalists were asked to write two articles: a news story from an interview with Executive Chair and Director of TPG Inc. Jim Coulter, and an article about how one of President Trump’s executive orders is affecting the Bay Area.
The judges received the finalists’ articles Wednesday evening, and the winners were announced at the awards ceremony on Thursday.
The first-through-third place winners were awarded scholarships of $10,000, $7,500, and $5,000 respectively. The five finalists earned $1,500 scholarships.
The winners and finalists are featured below.
