UA Students Win Hearst Awards for Radio Broadcast Excellence

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Two University of Alabama telecommunication and film graduates took home top honors in the William Randolph Hearst Journalism Awards Competition in San Francisco in early June.

Jeremy King, a May graduate from Alabaster, Ala., won first place in radio reporting and Brandi Srader, a May graduate from Doniphan, Mo., placed third in radio reporting. Both King and Srader had to place in the top five in earlier competitions to compete in San Francisco. King competed in San Francisco last year.

“Out of the five national finalists in radio news, two of them were from Pam Doyle’s program, which is remarkable when you consider the quality of the competition that Hearst represents,” said Dr. Loy Singleton, professor and chair of telecommunication and film in the College of Communication and Information Sciences. “The Hearst awards and the competition associated with them are considered to be the Academy Awards of collegiate broadcast journalism.”

Butler Cain, news director at Alabama Public Radio, says of King and Srader, “I really have enjoyed working with both of them. I have confidence in them that they will continue to do well in this industry.”

Dr. Pam Doyle, associate professor of telecommunication and film in the College of Communication and Information Sciences, said UA broadcast students have been placing in the top 15 in the Hearst competition for the last several years and that the department is very excited to have students place first and third.

“It really is an indication of the success we have had blending professional success here in the College with excellence in the classroom,” Singleton said. “The College’s acquisition of a commercial television station along with the continued success of APR means that our students are going to be even more intensely involved in the daily production of broadcast news.”

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program is presented annually under the auspices of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with full funding by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. The program’s mission is to encourage and support excellence in journalism and journalism education in America’s colleges and universities.

There are six writing, three photojournalism, two radio broadcast news and two television broadcast new competitions each academic year, beginning in October and ending in April.

The competition year culminates in June with the National Writing, Photojournalism and Broadcast News Championships and is open to selected winning students from the monthly competitions.