University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications student Bailey Hurley placed third in the Hearst Journalism Awards television competition.
Hurley will submit additional work to for the semi-final round, which if she places she will qualify for the Championship.
The sophomore broadcasting major from Fargo, North Dakota, placed in the Television II/ News competition with her package that exposed the illegality of smartphone app called KeyMe and it’s potential risks. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQx4OCMKw0A)
The app is free to download and allows the user to take a picture of a key, and the company will send the user a duplicate of the key in approximately five days for $5. Hurley tested the app with her coworker’s key and was able to break in to her house. She brought her findings to the police, who were unaware of the app’s existence.
The package aired on Star City News, the CoJMC’s student-produced public access news show that airs once a week.
Hurley has been an intern reporter for the Valley News Live in Fargo since her senior year of high school. She will return to the internship this summer.
She submitted a second piece to the Hearst competition that featured a sex offender who wanted to speak out about his story. That piece aired on Valley News Live in the summer of 2015. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmGRq0vLn9E)
The 2015-2016 Hearst Journalism Awards Program is held in 108 member colleges and universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs. The awards program consists of five writing, two photojournalism, one radio, two television and four multimedia competitions. The program awards up to $500,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends annually.
