BYU broadcast program ranked sixth in nation by William Randolph Hearst Foundation

By: Kimberly Orton

Each weekday there is a flurry of activity in the Brimhall building on campus—typing on keyboards, straightening of ties and moving of equipment. The activity accelerates until the students begin broadcasting The Daily News, a student-run news program. Their work continues to receive national recognition. In fact, the William Randolph Hearst Foundation recently recognized BYU’s broadcast journalism program as the sixth best in the nation out of 112 accredited journalism programs.

“It was an honor to be recognized as one of the top 10 broadcast journalism programs in the country this year,” said Brad Rawlins, Department Chair of the BYU Communications program. “It was especially meaningful because of the 50th anniversary of the Hearst Awards. These awards are considered the Pulitzer Prize for college students.”

The broadcast program has a long-standing tradition of competing very well in these types of awards. This is the fourth time in the past five years that the BYU broadcast journalism program has been ranked in the top 10 in the nation by the Hearst Foundation.

“With the experience and knowledge of our broadcast faculty, Daily News administration and staff, and our friends at KBYU, our students receive an excellent education to help channel their talent into award-winning performances,” Rawlins said.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program was founded in 1960 to provide support, encouragement, and assistance to journalism education at the college and university level. The program awards scholarships to students for outstanding performance in college level journalism, with matching grants to the students’ schools.

The scholarship money is awarded to the top 10 students in four different broadcast categories. Each school receives points based on how many of their students are recognized in those categories. The schools with the top point count are given a national ranking.

This year marked the most entries the Hearst Journalism Awards Program had ever received with more than 1,100 college students around the country vying for a spot in the top 25. BYU was represented by seniors Logan Daniels and Garrett Tenney. Tenney won first place in the Television feature category and Daniels won fourth place in the radio feature category.

“It was a big privilege to be among people who love doing what I love doing,” Daniels said.

Tenney described his experience as “neat and humbling.”

“It presented me with a lot of opportunities to meet famous professionals from the field of journalism,” Tenney said.

The recognition from the Hearst Foundation is a notable accomplishment for the BYU broadcast journalism program.

“I think it’s fantastic that we had an opportunity to have our students participate in this competition,” said Chad Curtis, manager of the BYU Daily News. “For me the ultimate take away is that BYU students can compete on any stage when it comes to broadcast journalism and do exceptionally well.”