ASU finishes 2nd in national journalism competition, racks up 15 awards

TEMPE, AZ - Arizona State University finished second in a national journalism competition, racking up 15 awards.

The Hearst Journalism contest recognizes excellence in multimedia, photojournalism, print, radio and television.

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication has finished first or second in five of the past six years of the prestigious competition.

That's the best performance of any journalism school in the nation.

This year, ASU placed first in broadcast news and third in print.

Cronkite Dean Christopher Callahan said the students are tremendously talented, dedicated and hard working.

"They prove year after year that we have among the very best of the next generation of great journalists," said Callahan.

Students from 110 accredited schools throughout the country are eligible to compete in what's often referred to as the Pulitizer prizes of college journalism.

The Hearst results came just weeks after the Society of Professional Journalists announced that the Cronkite School won more national Mark of Excellence Awards than any other journalism school in the country for the fifth year in a row.

Four of the school's student finalists also traveled to New York to compete in the 50th Annual National Hearst Championships. They brought home second place honors in the National Television Broadcast News and National Radio Broadcast News categories, and finished as finalists in the National Writing News category.

Cronkite School students who placed in the 2009-2010 Hearst competition are: John LaBarbera, Megan Ann Martin, Lindsey Reiser, Allison Gatlin, Toby Phillips, Kendall Wright, Chelsea Smith, Jonathan Cooper, Lis Lastra, Kim Foley, Daniel Newhauser, Michelle Price and Kristen Keogh.

The following schools also finished in the top 10 this year: University of North Carolina, Pennsylvania State University, University of Missouri, Western Kentucky University, Northwestern University, University of Florida, Ohio University, Indiana University and University of Montana.