WKU News

Two WKU students are among the national championship finalists in the 2020-2021 Hearst Journalism Awards Program.

Chris Kohley, a spring 2021 graduate from Streamwood, Illinois, is one of six photojournalism finalists, while Sam Mallon, a senior from Silver Spring, Maryland, is one of five multimedia finalists.

Kohley and Mallon are among 29 students representing 20 universities from across the country who will compete June 5-14 in the 61st annual National Writing, Photojournalism, Audio, Television and Multimedia Championships.

The finalists will participate in various spot assignments selected by judges, competing for scholarship awards ranging from $1,500 to $10,000. The championships will be held virtually again this year.

WKU students have won 15 Hearst individual national championships since 1985 — photojournalism in 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2016; multimedia in 2015; writing in 1985; and radio news in 2006.

Funded and administered for 61 years by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the Hearst Journalism Awards Program offers up to $700,000 in scholarships, grants and stipends annually; 104 colleges and universities with accredited undergraduate journalism schools are eligible to participate.

Often called “The Pulitzers of college journalism,” the program consists of five writing, two photojournalism, one audio, two television and four multimedia competitions. The points earned by individual students in the monthly competitions determine each discipline’s Intercollegiate ranking. The winners are those schools with the highest accumulated student points in each category.

Earlier this spring, WKU won the Hearst Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition for the fifth straight year and the 27^th time in the past 32 years.

In 2020, WKU won the Hearst Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition for the eighth time in the past nine years and finished second in the Hearst Intercollegiate Overall Competition. WKU has finished in the top eight nationally in the Hearst program for 27 straight years and has won four overall national championships -- 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2018.

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