School of Media News

Two WKU photojournalism students have qualified for the national semifinals in the first photo competition of the 53rd annual Hearst Journalism Awards Program.

In the news and features category, Jabin Botsford, a senior from Knoxville, Tenn., placed second and received a $2,000 award. Adam Wolffbrandt, a Lexington senior, placed sixth but also qualified for the semifinals because the fifth-place finisher has graduated and isn’t eligible for the semifinal round of judging next May.

The competition’s winners were selected from a record 102 entries submitted from 57 schools nationwide.

Missouri is in first place after the first of two contests in the Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition followed by WKU, Ohio, Penn State, Arizona State, Nebraska-Lincoln, Kent State, Florida, Iowa State and Oregon.

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.