UM Journalism School Jumps Two Spots in National Competition
MISSOULA – Powered by strong student work in writing and photography, the University of Montana School of Journalism jumped two spots to No. 8 in the nation during the prestigious Hearst Journalism Intercollegiate Competition.
The contest judges entries from accredited journalism programs and assigns points to both the journalist and the program. This year, two UM journalists claimed second-place finishes – Clarise Larson for feature writing and Griffen Smith for sports reporting. Former Kaimin photographer Antonio Ibarra snagged a third-place finish in feature photography.
Those top finishes, combined with other solid rankings, helped UM beat out far larger programs such as the universities of Maryland, Indiana and Oregon, as well as Penn State and Michigan State.
“The Hearst awards are really a great way to compare the quality of the work coming out of different programs around the country,” said Lee Banville, director of the School of Journalism. “This year showed again our students are among the best in the nation.”
The program placed sixth overall in writing and 10th in photojournalism. Last year, the program was 10th in the overall ranking, according to Hearst.
This latest news comes just a few weeks after UM’s J-school racked up a slew of Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence awards for the Northwest Region. In Region 10 (Montana, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska), the school scored major wins in radio, photography, television and in-depth projects and had solid finalists across categories.
Winners move on to the national awards later this summer. The UM School of Journalism had 17 finalists, as well as 12 winners across different categories. The winners were:
- In-depth Reporting: “Northern Ireland”
- Sports Writing: Jack Marshall
- Best All-around Newspaper: The Montana Kaimin
- Best Independent Online Publication: Native News
- General News Photography: Antonio Ibarra
- Sports Photography: Antonio Ibarra
- Feature Videography: Austin Amestoy
- Radio News: Izaak Opatz
- Radio Feature: Elinor Smith
- Radio In-depth: Hailey Smalley
- Television Feature: Henry Pree
- Television In-depth: “Unseen Engines”
“Awards are not the only way to measure a program, but they offer some important confirmation that our commitment to pushing young journalists to tell stories ethically and with skill and empathy produces strong work,” Banville said. “The students at our J-school can compete with any other program out there.”
###
Contact: Lee Banville, director, UM School of Journalism, 406-243-5250, lee.banville@mso.umt.edu.