This past academic year, undergraduate students from the School of Journalism participated in the 2024-2025 Hearst Journalism Awards. Michigan State University’s overall intercollegiate ranking rose from eighth to sixth, and student work received recognition across multiple categories, including the national championship event in San Francisco.
Since 1960, the Hearst Journalism Awards have been cultivating journalistic excellence throughout the country by awarding scholarships to undergraduate students who have produced exceptional work.
“I think this [success] points to the excellent faculty members we have in the school. It’s not just a couple of students who are doing well this year. We have a strong track record with many students in recent years, which happens because of a strong faculty,” said Tim P. Vos, director of the School of Journalism.
MSU climbs intercollegiate rankings
The intercollegiate rankings in each discipline are determined by points earned by students in the monthly competitions, and schools which ultimately hold the highest cumulative total are named Intercollegiate Champions. In the intercollegiate rankings, MSU ranked eighth in the Writing and Multimedia categories and fourth in the Audio, Television, Podcast category.
“I’m also pleased to see faculty member Jarrad Henderson’s stewardship of our efforts bear fruit,” said Vos. “Jarrad is a former Hearst judge who understands the Hearst awards intimately and has done a great job of getting our best student work entered into the competition.”
Spartan success in monthly competitions
Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, the Hearst Awards hosted monthly competitions across five major categories — Writing, Photojournalism, Audio, Television and Multimedia.
In the “Writing – Explanatory Reporting” category, Alex Walters, Owen McCarthy and Theo Scheer placed 10th for their State News article about the legal intricacies of the Nassar case.
Ethan Hunter, a recent J-School graduate, placed third in the “Television II – News” category for his work on Focal Point, ComArtSci’s student-produced newscast. Karina Prieto placed seventh in the same category,
“I am really proud of all the work I've produced for Focal Point this year, but winning a Hearst award makes it extra special,” Hunter said. “I love when Michigan State gets the national recognition it deserves, especially for our outstanding School of Journalism."
“The organization has an incredible history, and I feel so grateful to be even a small part of that,” said Prieto.
Faith Cabalum, placed first in the “Multimedia I – Narrative Video Storytelling” monthly competition for her co-directed submission, “Over the Years.”
“When my co-director Subah Bhatia and I began working on “Over the Years,” we didn’t have a clear path for the documentary, but we trusted our instincts and took the risk on the subject. Aging can be a difficult topic for some, and our structure didn’t follow a typical format, but we believed in the message and worked almost every day that year on the film,” said Cabalum.
“Stitching together so many different voices and stories into one cohesive arc was challenging, but it pushed us creatively in the best way,” said Bhatia.
Bhatia, now a recent ComArtSci alum, shared how her own lived experience informed the production of the short film. “I had just seen my own family go through the death of a loved one and watched my grandmother navigate life in the aftermath. For the first time, I really started noticing how much goes unseen in the lives of older people. The complexities. The depth. The quiet dignity of it all. It wasn’t just about what we could achieve through the film ourselves; it was about what we could help the people we were representing feel. Seen, valued, and heard.”
National Championship event
The Hearst Awards National Championships were held in San Francisco, California, from May 31 to June 5. Following their performance in the monthly competitions, two MSU students, Karina Prieto and Faith Cabalum, were selected as finalists in the Television and Multimedia categories respectively.
“It’s satisfying to see national recognition for these students,” said Vos. “Faith and Karina are talented and hardworking and deserve the acknowledgments they’ve received.”
Prieto’s submission, “The Show Must Go On,” illustrates the resilience of the Marin Shakespeare Company in the face of recent funding cuts.
“My four fellow TV finalists were incredibly talented, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time getting to know them over the course of the week. Competing against such talented reporters was so motivating and I truly learned something from each and every one of them,” Prieto said. “I left the experience feeling so invigorated and excited to continue pursuing journalism.”
Cabalum took home first place as well as a $10,000 prize for her winning submission, titled "Beneath the Stars and Stripes," which took a nuanced approach to this year’s theme — “Made in America.” Her film was produced on location in San Francisco under a time constraint of 3.5 days and explores the life and activism of Satsuki Ina, who was born under harrowing circumstances in a World War II U.S. incarceration camp.
Cabalum initially had difficulty contacting her subject. “I decided to take the risk and kept trying to reach her because her story spoke to me both personally and professionally, and that passion is what makes your work stand out.”
“Navigating (an unfamiliar location and tight deadlines) taught me how to adjust and stay focused under pressure, which is a skill that I’ll take with me into my career,” Cabalum said. “In terms of the project I made, my favorite part was getting to share Satsuki Ina’s story, who is a part of 0.004% of the U.S. population born in the Japanese American internment camps at the time. Her perspective was unique, and the opportunity to share her story in a way that could inspire change was the most meaningful part.”
“I am absolutely thrilled that two of our outstanding Journalism students competed at the 2025 Hearst Intercollegiate Journalism Awards in San Francisco,” said Dean Heidi Hennink-Kaminski. “This national recognition is a testament to their talent, dedication, and the exceptional mentorship they’ve received from our faculty. We’re proud to see their work stand out on such a prestigious stage.”
By Natasha De Souza