Three University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications (UFCJC) student journalists were recognized in the 2021-2022 Hearst Journalism Awards National Championship Competition. Houston Harwood, B.S. Journalism 2022, placed second in the National Writing Competition and Journalism senior Elise Elder was a finalist. Journalism senior Chasity Maynard was named a finalist in the National Photojournalism Competition.

Elder and Harwood qualified by placing first and third, respectively, in the Intercollegiate Investigative Reporting contest. Both of their winning stories were part of Fresh Take Florida, a news service producing top-caliber investigative and political content. Maynard placed second in the Photojournalism Features and News competition to qualify. Harwood will receive a $7,500 award and Elder and Maynard will each receive $1,500.

This year, the Writing finalists were asked to write two articles: a news story from an interview with Dr. Matthew State, and an article about the impact of the pandemic on the 2022 graduating class.

UFCJC placed second overall in the 2021-2022 Intercollegiate Competition with the second highest number of accumulated points from the year-long long competitions in writing, photojournalism, audio, television, and multimedia for journalism undergraduates.

The Hearst Championships are the culmination of the 2021 – 2022 Journalism Awards Program, which were held in 103 member universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs.

From May 20 – 25, 2022, 29 finalists – winners from the 14 monthly competitions – participated in the 62nd annual Hearst Championships in San Francisco. The assignments were chosen by media professionals who judged the finalists’ work throughout the year and at the Championships.

Posted: May 26, 2022
Category: Alumni News, College News, Student News
Tagged as: 2021-2022 Hearst Journalism Awards, Chasity Maynard, Elise Elder, Hearst Journalism Awards, Houston Harwood