The Hearst Journalism Awards Program - Writing - Sports Writing Grant

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program - Writing - Sports Writing Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: William Randolph Hearst Foundation
Amount: US $1,000 - US $3,000
Last Updated: October 31, 2025

Summary

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program, established in 1960, offers scholarships for exceptional performance in journalism at the collegiate level, with a total of up to $700,000 in awards. This program includes various competitions across writing, photojournalism, audio, television, and multimedia formats. Open to undergraduate journalism majors and minors from accredited institutions, it encourages students to showcase their work and gain recognition in the field of journalism.

Overview

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program The Hearst Journalism Awards Program was founded in 1960 to provide support, encouragement and assistance to journalism education at the college and university level. The program awards scholarships to students for outstanding performance in college-level journalism, with matching grants to the students’ schools. The 65th annual program, offering up to $700,000 in awards, consists of four monthly writing competitions, two photojournalism competitions, two audio competitions, two television competitions, and four multimedia competitions – with championship finals in all divisions. The William Randolph Hearst Foundation was established by its namesake, publisher William Randolph Hearst, in 1948 under California non-profit laws, exclusively for educational and charitable purposes. Since then, The Hearst Foundations have contributed more than one billion dollars in the areas of education, health care, social services and the arts throughout the country. Program Guidelines There are 14 journalism awards competitions in the 2025-2026 each school year—four writing, two photojournalism, two audio, two television, and four multimedia competitions. Each participating university may enter two separate students’ entries per competition. Schools receive a $250 stipend per competition entered regardless of students’ placements. The submission must have been disseminated – published, aired and/or posted – while the student was an undergraduate journalism major or minor attending a domestic accredited college or university within the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC). An exception is made for photo entrants who do not have to be journalism majors/minors to enter the photo competitions. Double bylines and/or group entries are not allowed except in the Multimedia IV – Team competition and the Team or Individual Investigative Reporting competition.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Participation in the program is open to undergraduate journalism majors or minors currently enrolled in ACEJMC–accredited domestic universities. An exception to the journalism major/minor requirement is made for students entering the photojournalism competitions.Entrants must be actively involved in campus media and must have published articles, photographs, or produced newscasts or multimedia pieces that can be submitted in the writing, photojournalism, audio, television, and/or multimedia competitions.