School of Media News

A Western Kentucky University photojournalism student has won the second multimedia competition of the 2022-2023 Hearst Journalism Awards Program.

Kennedy Gott, a December graduate from Bowling Green, finished first in the Multimedia Innovative Storytelling and Audience Engagement Competition for Nourishing the Soul. Gott received a $3,000 award and qualified for the National Multimedia Championship in June in San Francisco. WKU’s School of Media receives a matching award.

Gabi Broekema, a senior from Bowling Green, finished 14^th in the multimedia competition.

WKU remains in first place in the Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition with the highest accumulated student points after two of four multimedia competitions. The rest of the top 10 is University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Florida; Pennsylvania State University (tie); Syracuse University (tie); University of Missouri; Arizona State University; Brigham Young University; San Francisco State University; University of Kentucky.

In the Hearst Sports Writing Competition, WKU journalism major Wyatt Sparkman, a senior from Louisville, placed 19^th.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program, now in its 63rd year, added multimedia to the competitions in 2010. WKU has won the multimedia championship eight times.

Often called “The Pulitzers of college journalism,” the Hearst program also includes five writing, one audio, two television, and two photojournalism 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.

In the Hearst Overall Intercollegiate Competition, WKU’s School of Media has finished in the top five nationally for 13 consecutive years and has placed in the top eight for 29 straight years with four overall championships in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2018.

In 2021-2022, WKU finished fourth in the overall competition; won the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition for the sixth straight year and 28^th time in 33 years; and placed second in the Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition.

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.

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

- WKU -

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.