WKU students finish 1st, 2nd in Hearst multimedia news contest

2 broadcasting students honored in BEA 2015 Festival of Media Arts

WKU photojournalism students finished first and second in the second multimedia competition of the 2014-15 Hearst Journalism Awards Program and two WKU broadcasting students were honored in the Broadcast Education Association’s 2015 Festival of Media Arts.

• Katie Meek, a senior from Elizabethtown, won the Hearst multimedia news category for her entry What’s Inside Counts. Meek received a $2,600 scholarship and qualifies to participate in the Hearst National Multimedia Championship in June in San Francisco.
• Tyler Essary, a senior from Prattville, Alabama, finished second with Unbreakable and received a $2,000 scholarship. WKU’s School of Journalism & Broadcasting will receive matching awards.

Often called the “Pulitzers of College Journalism,” the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, now in its 55th year, includes two photojournalism, five writing, one radio, two television, and four multimedia competitions offering up to $500,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends; 108 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 is in first place after the second of four multimedia competitions with the highest accumulated student points followed by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Arizona State University; University of Missouri; Syracuse University; Temple University; San Francisco State University; University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Pennsylvania State University and Kent State University.

In 2013-14, WKU won the Hearst Intercollegiate Photojournalism Competition for the 21st time in the past 25 years and the Hearst Intercollegiate Multimedia Competition for the third consecutive year and tied for second in the overall Intercollegiate competition. WKU has finished in the top five nationally in the Hearst overall competition for the past five years and in the top eight for 21 straight years including national championships in 2005, 2001 and 2000. The overall results are based on points accumulated in the Hearst competition’s combined writing-broadcasting-photojournalism-multimedia standings. The final Intercollegiate winners will be announced in April.

BEA 2015 Festival of Media Arts

Two WKU broadcasting students received awards in the BEA 2015 Festival of Media Arts.

• Haddy Badjie, a junior from Lewisville, Texas, placed second in the Radio Hard News category for Ferguson’s Faithful Fighters.
• Cameron Coats, a senior from Brentwood, Tennessee, placed second for On-Air Personality.

Contact: School of Journalism & Broadcasting, (270) 745-4144