Winning college journalists in the 63rd National Writing, Photojournalism, Audio, Television and Multimedia Championships were announced on June 7, 2023 by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications Hallie Gutzwiller was one of the 30 Championship finalists selected from the 1,304 entries submitted in the 14 monthly competitions this academic year.
Gutzwiller is a senior broadcasting major from Elm Creek, Nebraska. She qualified for the Hearst National Championships after placing first in the Hearst Audio Competition. Her winning submissions,"Wildfires Nebraska" and "Water Preservation," covered the effects of wildfires on communities in Nebraska and the importance of water conservation in the state.
From June 2-7, Gutzwiller participated in the Hearst Audio National Championships in San Francisco, where she demonstrated her audio skills by completing spot assignments. After completing the spot assignments, Gutzwiller was named runner-up in the audio category and won a $1,500 award.
The assignments were chosen by media professionals who judged the finalists’ work throughout the year and at the Championships. The judges for audio were: Candy Altman, retired Vice President of News, Hearst Television; Holly Quan, Reporter/Anchor, KCBS Radio and Joe Rovitto, President, Clemensen & Rovitto LLC.
The Hearst Championships are the culmination of the 2022 – 2023 Journalism Awards Program, which were held in 105 member universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs.
