WKU News

Allie Schallert (left) won the Hearst Multimedia National Championship; Kennedy Gott (right) finished third in the Photojournalism National Championship.

Western Kentucky University’s Allie Schallert won the Hearst Journalism Awards Program’s 2023 Multimedia National Championship this week in San Francisco.

Schallert, a May photojournalism graduate from New Windsor, New York, was one of five finalists who participated for the multimedia championship June 2-7. Schallert, WKU’s 16^th Hearst individual national champion, received a $10,000 award.

Kennedy Gott, a December graduate from Bowling Green, finished third in the Photojournalism National Championship and received a $5,000 award. Gott was one of six photojournalism finalists.

Winners of the Hearst program’s National Writing, Photojournalism, Audio, Television and Multimedia Championships were announced Wednesday night.

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.

Often called “The Pulitzers of college journalism,” the Hearst Journalism Awards Program includes two photojournalism, five writing, one audio, two television, and four multimedia competitions offering up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends; 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.

WKU’s School of Media finished third in the Hearst program’s 2022-2023 Overall Intercollegiate Competition. WKU has finished 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. WKU won the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition and tied for first in the Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition.

The 2022-2023 Overall Intercollegiate Competition top 10 finishers are University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Florida, WKU, University of Missouri, Pennsylvania University, Syracuse University, Arizona State University, University of Montana, Indiana University, and University of Iowa.

The 2022-2023 Hearst Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition top 10 finishers are: WKU and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (tie); University of Florida, University of Southern California, Syracuse University, University of Missouri, Pennsylvania State University, San Francisco State University, Brigham Young University (tie), and Florida International University (tie).

The 2022-2023 Hearst Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition top 10 finishers are: WKU, University of Iowa, University of Oregon, Michigan State University, Ohio University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Florida, Pennsylvania State University, Elon University, and University of Montana.

Contact: School of Media, (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, WKU helps 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.