Three journalism majors in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications have advanced to the Hearst Journalism National Competition in San Francisco in May.
The three students are Chris Bowling, a junior from Liberty Township, Ohio; Calla Kessler, a senior from Omaha; and James Wooldridge, a junior from Prairie Village, Kansas. In the monthly competitions, Bowling placed first in the Enterprise Reporting category; Kessler placed fourth in Multimedia II: News and 10th in Photojournalism I: News and Features; and Wooldridge placed fifth in Photojournalism I: News and Features. The students will be given on-the-spot assignments in San Francisco for the chance to win additional awards.
In addition to the national qualifiers, five other journalism majors placed in the top 20 in the monthly competitions and will receive certificates of merit. They are, listed by hometown with year in school and award:
Falls City: Jacy Jean Lewis, senior, seventh in Multimedia II: News.
Lincoln: Bree Anne Samani, junior, 18th in Radio.
Nebraska City: Marcella Mercer, junior, sixth in Feature Writing.
Omaha: Zach Penrice, sophomore, 16th in Radio.
West Chester, Ohio: Natasha Rausch, senior, sixth in Enterprise Reporting.
The Hearst Journalism Awards Program was founded in 1960 to provide support, encouragement and assistance to journalism education at the college and university level. There are 14 monthly competitions each school year. The top five winners in each competition advance to the national competition. Universities also compete in an intercollege competition based on student points accumulated throughout the 14 competitions.
