The senior, who is a broadcast journalism major, beat 57 other video entries submitted to the national competition for broadcast news. Because she was one of the top 10 finishers, Walker has to turn in additional tapes for a second round of judging along with the top five finalists from the audio and video categories. In the final round, five finalists from both audio and video will be chosen to compete in the program's national broadcast news championship in San Francisco. The William Randolph Hearst Foundation has been administering and funding the Hearst Journalism Awards Program since the 1960s. The national program was designed to encourage student excellence in journalism education.
Students can submit their entries only through their school of journalism.
Prizes are awarded to undergraduate students at accredited schools and are matched with their school in categories such as print journalism, photography and television and radio news. They are judged by a panel of media professionals. Walker said she found out she was a finalist after winter break. The first person she called was Darla Belshe, a journalism lecturer and Update News staff adviser, she said. Belshe said she was pleased that Walker's work paid off and that her efforts were being acknowledged.