Congratulations are in order for senior Caleb Suggs as the William Randolph Hearst
Foundation has announced the finalists selected in the 2020-2021 Journalism Awards
Program’s Audio News and Features Competition. The National Championship will be held this June, where the top five audio winners along with television, writing, photojournalism, and multimedia finalists qualify.
Suggs, a journalism and film and video production double major, received first place and a prize scholarship of $3,000 for his story on his internship with WKNO-FM and the Institute for Public Service Reporting. This is a great look not only for the department of Journalism and Strategic Media, but also for the University of Memphis as it is the first time the university has placed first in a Hearst competition. The school will receive an equal grant of $3,000 thanks to Suggs. There were 56 entries from 37 different universities submitted into this competition.
“I was really surprised when I got the email telling me that I had won first place in the Hearst Audio Competition, to be dead honest, I really didn't know the full gravity of what the win really meant until all the emails from professors in my department started rolling in telling me
congratulations. Then I got a tweet about me from David Rudd and that's when it all really kind of hit me like, wow, I just got first place in a national journalism competition. You know, I'm really honored and humbled to win this for myself, the school and the department of journalism and strategic media, and really thankful that I got the opportunity to make the story. I can't wait to see what happens at the championship in June, I'm going for the first place win.”
For those interested in hearing Caleb Suggs winning audio story, you can listen to it here: https://www.wknofm.org/post/concept-college-life-seems-old-school-after-another-pandemic-semester#stream/0