Academics

Students lead another strong finish in 'Pulitzers of college journalism'

Penn State's third-place overall finish in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program was the best performance by any school in the Big Ten or Northeast this year. Credit: John Beale / Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Strong performances by communications students in several disciplines during the 2018-19 academic year led Penn State to a top-three overall finish in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, often referred to as “the Pulitzers of college journalism.”

Penn State, led by the work of students in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, finished third overall in the competition that attracted 1,351 entries from colleges and universities across the nation. Final standings were based on the result of monthly competitions in four disciplines: multimedia, photojournalism, radio and television, and writing.

Penn State’s finish was its 10th consecutive top-10 result. In the past decade and a half, no other school in the Big Ten Conference and no other school in the Northeast has crafted a better average finish in the Hearst program.

Penn State trailed only the University of North Carolina and Arizona State University in the final overall standings. In discipline standings based on monthly competitions during the academic year, Penn State finished second in writing, fifth in radio and television, and sixth in multimedia.

Students who put together award-winning efforts received scholarships for their efforts.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program operates under the auspices of the accredited schools of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication. It is fully funded and administered by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. Currently, 104 accredited undergraduate schools of journalism in the United States are eligible to participate in the program, which awards up to $700,000 in scholarships and grants annually.  The Intercollegiate Awards have been acknowledged since the inception of the program, and in 1990 monetary awards were added to the Hearst Journalism Awards Program budget.

Last Updated June 2, 2021