NEWS RELEASE

HEARST NATIONAL WRITING FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

The William Randolph Hearst Foundation has announced the eight undergraduate college journalism students from around the country who will compete in the 49th annual National Writing Championships of the Hearst Journalism Awards Program this June in San Francisco.

The finalists include six winners in monthly writing competitions and two who had the highest scores from among the 600 entries submitted in this year’s writing competitions. The finalists will participate in various spot assignments, competing for additional scholarship awards ranging from $1,500 to $5,000 in the Program’s National Championships, held in San Francisco, June 3 – 7, 2009.

Also competing in the National Championships will be six photo, five radio and five television broadcast news finalists.

The 2009 National Writing Championship finalists are:
TREY BUNDY, San Francisco State University
MARK DENT, University of Kansas
RUSTIN COLIN DODD, University of Kansas
MATT ERICKSON, University of Kansas
MATTHEW J. HARRIS, University of Missouri
KELLY M. HOUSE, Michigan State University
BRIAN HUGHES, University of Georgia
BETH RANKIN, Kent State University

Judging the writing competition this year are: Arthur S. Brisbane, ASB Consulting, East Dennis, MA; Jeff Cohen, Executive Vice President and Editor, Houston Chronicle, TX; and Peter Bhatia, Executive Editor, The Oregonian, Portland, OR.

Presently, 110 colleges and universities with accredited undergraduate journalism schools are eligible to participate in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program. Funded and administered for 49 years by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the Journalism Program awards more than $550,000 a year in scholarships, grants and stipends annually.
Contact:
Jan Watten, program director
415-908-4560
jwatten@hearstfdn.org