Journalism program wins national championship

With strong efforts in each of five monthly competitions, Penn State claimed first place in the yearlong Intercollegiate Writing Championship conducted as part of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards program, often referred to as “the Pulitzers of college
journalism.”

Penn State’s top individual results included a third-place finish by Anjelica Singer in features, and second and fifth place, respectively, for Jade Campos and Rory Pelella in explanatory writing. Additional monthly competitions focused on sports, personality/profile and investigative reporting, with Jillian Wesner, Caitlyn Garrity and Max Ralph all writing stories that scored in the top 10.

Behind Penn State in the top five were North Carolina, Indiana, Florida and Missouri. The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $4,000 and $2,000, respectively.

“It’s obviously great to win in any of the major Hearst categories,” said John Affleck, head of the Department of Journalism at Penn State and the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society. “Coming in first in writing is particularly gratifying as it’s the journalism skill that acts as an anchor to all types of storytelling.”