School of Media News

Two WKU photojournalism graduates finished first and second in the first multimedia competition of the 53rd annual Hearst Journalism Awards Program.

Zack Conkle of Louisville received a $2,600 award for winning the Narrative Multimedia Storytelling – Features category with his piece titled “Wright’s Law.”  Leslye Davis of Greensburg finished second and received a $2,000 award. WKU’s School of Journalism & Broadcasting will receive matching awards.

Conkle and Davis graduated in May 2012 and are not eligible to participate in the Hearst championship.

WKU is in first place after the first of four contests in the Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition followed by Syracuse University; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (tie); University of Missouri (tie); University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Kent State University; Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (tie); University of Montana (tie); Iowa State University; and San Francisco State University. The final intercollegiate winners are announced in April.

Often called the “Pulitzers of College Journalism,” the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program is conducted under the auspices of accredited schools of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication. The program, in which 106 undergraduate journalism programs across the nation are eligible to participate, consists of five monthly writing competitions, two photojournalism competitions, three broadcast news competitions and four multimedia competitions and awards up to $500,000 in scholarships and grants annually.

In 2011-12, WKU’s School of Journalism & Broadcasting won the Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition, won the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition for the fourth consecutive year and 20^th time in 23 years and finished fourth in the Overall Intercollegiate Competition. WKU has finished among the top eight nationally in the Hearst overall rankings for 19 consecutive years and won the national title in 2005, 2001 and 2000.

Contact: School of Journalism & Broadcasting, (270) 745-4144.