Newhouse Juniors win Second Place at Hearst National Championships

A pair of broadcast and digital journalism juniors captured Second Place honors at this year’s Hearst National Championships.

Nicole Aponte ’24 won Second Place in the National Television Championship category while John Perik ’24 finished second in the Audio division. They were recognized for their stories about artificial intelligence’s impact on society, both earning $7,500 scholarship awards.

Nicole Aponte (left) and John Perik hold their awards at the 2023 Hearst National Championships. — Nicole Aponte (left) and John Perik display their awards at the 2023 Hearst National Championships.

Perik was also recognized in the Best Use of Audio for News Coverage division and won a $1,000 scholarship for his work throughout the school year.

The Newhouse School was also recognized in the Hearst Awards Intercollegiate Competition, finishing second in the Audio and Television division, fifth in Multimedia and sixth overall among journalism programs.

Considered the Pulitzer Prizes of college media, the Hearst National Championships took place last week in San Francisco, where 30 college students from top journalism programs produced stories judged by professionals.

Jon Glass is a professor of practice in the Newhouse School’s magazine, news and digital journalism program.