SAN FRANCISCO – Winning college journalists in the National Writing, Photojournalism and Broadcast News Championships were announced on June 10, 2006 by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation Journalism Awards Program.
The Championships — the culmination of the 2005-2006 Journalism Awards Program, with more than 100 undergraduate colleges and universities competing under the auspices of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication — were held in San Francisco, June 5 – 11, 2006.
Finalists were brought to San Francisco to demonstrate their writing, photography, radio and television skills in rigorous on-the-spot assignments. Assignments were decided by non-Hearst media professionals, also brought in to judge the students’ work. The following are the first, second and third place winners and the scholarships they received:
NATIONAL WRITING CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, MELISSA DOMSIC, Michigan State University, $5,000 scholarship
Second Place, MICHAEL D. BECKER, Syracuse University, $4,000 scholarship
Third Place, MICHAEL BRUNTZ, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, $3,000 scholarship
NATIONAL PHOTOJOURNALISM CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, WILLIAM DESHAZER, Western Kentucky University, $5,000 award
Second Place, DANNY GHITIS , University of Florida, $4,000 awar
Third Place, BENJAMIN R. SKLAR, University of Texas, Austin, $3,000 award
NATIONAL RADIO BROADCAST NEWS CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, BRENNA L. GALLEGOS, Western Kentucky University, $5,000 award
Second Place, KRISTI KECK , University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, $4,000 award
Third Place, DANIELLE WOOD, Brigham Young University, $3,000 award
NATIONAL TELEVISION BROADCAST NEWS CHAMPIONSHIP
First Place, CHRIS WELCH, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, $5,000 award
Second Place, SEAN MARONEY, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, $4,000 award
Third Place, JENNIFER A. BAILEYS, Marshall University, $3,000 award
Five runners-up in the Writing Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarship checks, are (listed in alphabetical order):
TEDDY KIDER, Northwestern University;
COREY W. PAUL, Western Kentucky University;
ROBERT R. SAMUELS, Northwestern University;
EMILY STEEL, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill;
BRIAN TRIPLETT, University of Iowa.
The $1,000 Award for Best Reporting Technique went to COREY W. PAUL, Western Kentucky University, for his article in The College Heights Herald titled “Goat Incident Shocks Campus.” The Article of the Year Award of $1,000 went to TEDDY KIDER, Northwestern University, for his sports article in The South Florida-Sentinel titled “The New Word on Recruiting.”
Three runners-up in the Photojournalism Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarship checks, are (listed in alphabetical order):
RAYMOND M. JONES, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill;
BRIAN LEHMANN, University of Nebraska-Lincoln;
MATTHEW NAGER, University of Colorado.
The $1,000 award for Best Single Photograph went to BENJAMIN R. SKLAR, University of Texas, Austin; and the Best Picture Story/Series Award of $1,000 went to BRIAN LEHMANN, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Each Semi-finalist in the Photojournalism Championship receives a $1,000 scholarship. They are listed in alphabetical order:
ALLEN BRYANT, Western Kentucky University;
MIKE GREENER, University of Montana;
DEAN KNUTH, University of Arizona;
JACOB PRITCHARD, University of Colorado;
SAMKIT SHAH, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill;
TRICIA SPAULDING, Western Kentucky University.
Two runners-up in the Radio Broadcast News Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarship checks, are (listed in alphabetical order):
RYAN MCILVAIN, Brigham Young University;
STAN PILLMAN, University of Montana.
Two runners-up in the Television Broadcast News Championship, who will each receive $1,500 scholarship checks, are (listed in alphabetical order):
FLORENCE CHEN, Brigham Young University;
ROBYN KRIEL, Texas Christian University.
The $1,000 Award for Best Use Of Radio For News Coverage went to BRENNA L. GALLEGOS, Western Kentucky University. The Best Use Of Television For News Coverage Award of $1,000 went to CHRIS WELCH, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Each Semi-finalist in the Radio Broadcast News Championship receives a $1,000 scholarship. They are listed in alphabetical order:
BRIAN CHAPMAN, Pennsylvania State University;
MICHIKO HOWLETT, Arizona State University;
KYLEE MYERS, Temple University;
ADAM RHEW, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill;
ROSS WEIDNER, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Each Semi-finalist in the Television Broadcast News Championship receives a $1,000 scholarship. They are listed in alphabetical order:
LYDIA GARLIKOV, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill;
LAURA LIGGETT, University of Nebraska-Lincoln;
ANDREA RAMEY University of Missouri;
KELLI WATSON, Syracuse University;
ANDREW WILLIAMSON, University of Maryland.
The keynote speaker at the awards presentation this year was William Randolph Hearst III, President of the Board of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.
All judges are from non-Hearst publications and broadcast stations. Judging the writing competition this year were: Alex Martin, Deputy Marketplace Editor, The Wall Street Journal, New York, NY; Pat Andrews, Broward City Editor, The Herald, Pembroke Pines, FL; and Stephen Buckley, Managing Editor, The St. Petersburg Times, FL.
The Photojournalism judges were: Kirk D. McKoy, Senior Photo Editor, Los Angeles Times, California; Pim Van Hemmen, Assistant Managing Editor/Photography, The Star-Ledger, Newark, New Jersey; and Leslie A. White, Assistant Director of Photography, Web/News, The Dallas Morning News, Texas.
The Broadcast News judges were: Terry Connelly, Senior Vice President & General Manager, The Weather Channel, Atlanta, GA; Felicia Middlebrooks, Morning Anchor & Correspondent, WBBM News Radio 780, Chicago, IL; and Tom Negovan, Anchor/Reporter, WGN-TV, Chicago, IL.
The William Randolph Hearst Foundation was established by its namesake in 1948 under California non-profit laws, exclusively for educational and charitable purposes. Since then, The Hearst Foundations have contributed more than $500 million to numerous educational programs, including this one, and to health and medical care, human services and the arts in every state.
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Contact: Jan C. Watten, Program Director
415-543-6033, ext. 308
jwatten@hearstfdn.org
