Department of Music News

Five Western Kentucky University students have been honored in multimedia, photojournalism and broadcast competitions of the 2023-2024 Hearst Journalism Awards Program.

Georgia Mallett, a senior from Ellensburg, Washington, finished second in the Multimedia Digital News Competition and received a $2,000 scholarship. Gunnar Word, a senior from Edmonton, finished fourth and received a $1,000 scholarship. WKU’s School of Media & Communication receives matching awards.

Brett Phelps, a junior from Bardstown, finished second in the Photojournalism Picture Story/Series Competition and Emilee Arnold, a senior from Alvaton, placed seventh. Phelps received a $2,000 scholarship and qualified to submit additional photos for the semifinal round of judging. WKU’s School of Media & Communication receives a matching award.

Adi Schanie, a junior from Louisville, finished sixth in the Television News Competition.

WKU’s School of Media & Communication finished fourth in the Hearst program’s 2023-2024 Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition and 10^th in the Intercollegiate Broadcast Competition. WKU is second in the Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition after three of four competitions.

Often called “The Pulitzers of college journalism,” the Hearst program includes five writing, two photo, one audio, two television and four multimedia competitions offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends. Currently, 105 member universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.

The top 10 schools in the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition (highest accumulated student points from the two photo competitions) were: University of Iowa; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Missouri; WKU; Michigan State University; San Francisco State University; Ohio University; University of North Texas; Iowa State University; and University of Kentucky.

The top 10 schools in the Intercollegiate Broadcast Competition (highest accumulated student points from the three broadcast competitions) were: Syracuse University; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Missouri; University of Florida; Pennsylvania State University; Arizona State University; University of Maryland; Kent State University; Ohio University; and WKU.

With a third-place finish in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program’s 2022-2023 Overall Intercollegiate Competition, WKU has ranked in the top five nationally for 14 consecutive years and has placed in the top eight for 30 straight years with four overall championships in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2018. The final results for 2023-2024 will be announced later this spring.

WKU has won the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition 29 times in the past 35 years and has won the Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition nine times since it was added in 2010.

WKU students have won 16 Hearst individual national championships since 1985 — photojournalism in 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2016; multimedia in 2015 and 2023; writing in 1985; and radio news in 2006.

Contact: School of Media & Communication, (270) 745-4144

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Western Kentucky University prides itself on positioning its students, faculty and staff for long term success. As a student-centered, applied research university, our students expand on classroom learning by integrating education with real-world applications in the communities we serve. Our hilltop campus is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which was recently named by Reader’s Digest as one of the nicest towns in America, just an hour’s drive from Nashville, Tennessee.