Two University of Nebraska-Lincoln journalism students are winners in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, often called the Pulitzer Prizes of college journalism.
Faiz Siddiqui of Cincinnati placed third in the feature writing-competition. Anna Reed of Omaha placed fourth in the first of two photojournalism competitions.
Siddiqui received a $1,500 award and Reed received a $1,000 award. The UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications will receive matching grants.
Siddiqui's winning work, headlined "War-torn veterans, their dreams, and a yoga instructor," was one of 143 entries in the feature-writing competition. It can be found through this link to the Lincoln Journal Star website, http://go.unl.edu/cxo. Reed's winning photos can be viewed on the college's website, http://journalism.unl.edu/anna-reeds-winning-photos.
Siddiqui writes political columns for the student-run NextGen Journal (nextgenjournal.com); blogs for Harumph!, the blog of archaic interjections; and writes for Complex Magazine (complex.com). He is in a yearlong reporting internship with the Lincoln Journal Star that began in January. Siddiqui holds one of the college's Harold and Marian Andersen Scholarships and expects to graduate in 2015.
Reed is a junior photojournalism student. She most recently worked as an Omaha World-Herald fellow and has held internships with the Northeast Nebraska News Co., the Lincoln Journal Star and the Daily Nebraskan. Reed holds the Susan Buffett Scholarship, Peter Kiewit Legacy Scholarship, Dr. and Mrs. J.F. Daly Journalism Memorial Fund Scholarship and Canfield Scholarship. She has worked on in-depth photojournalism projects in western Nebraska and Kyrgyzstan. Reed will travel to Brazil this month for her third photojournalism study abroad course.
The Hearst program is in its 53rd year. Students from 106 universities with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions. Sponsored by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, it consists of five monthly writing competitions, two photojournalism competitions, three broadcast news competitions and four multimedia competitions with championship finals in all divisions.
- Marilyn Hahn, Journalism and Mass Communications