Three West Virginia University P.I. Reed School of Journalism broadcast news students recently won national awards from the prestigious Hearst Journalism Awards Program, sponsored by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.

Among college participants, the WVU School of Journalism placed third overall in the Intercollegiate Broadcast News Competition with the highest accumulated student points from the radio and television competitions.

Justin Weaver of Fairview, a May graduate, won fourth place in the semifinal Television Broadcast News Feature Competition out of 65 students from 38 journalism schools across the country. His parents are Valerie and Michael Weaver.

As part of the award, he received a $750 grant with a matching grant awarded to the WVU School of Journalism and a William Randolph Hearst Certificate of Merit. Typically, the top five winners go on to the final competition in San Francisco. However, because Weaver has already graduated, he is not eligible for the final competition.

Steve Butera, a senior from Bridgeport, won 11th place in the Television I Competition also out of 65 students from 38 journalism schools. His parents are Robin and Steve Butera.

Megan Bowers, a junior from Morgantown, tied for 20th place in the Radio I Competition out of 43 students from 26 journalism schools. Her parents are Ronald and Connie Bowers.

Both Butera and Bowers received certificates of merit. All of the Hearst broadcast news finalists are listed athttp://www.hearstfdn.org/hearst_journalism/.

Its a tremendous honor to have so many students place in this competition,said Maryanne Reed, dean of the School of Journalism.It demonstrates that WVU students canand docompete on a national level with the best and the brightest students in the country.

The 2007-08 broadcast news competitions were held in 108 member colleges and universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs.

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 studentsschools.

The broadcast news competition was added in 1988 to the Hearst Foundations Journalism Awards Program that included writing, photojournalism and multimedia, and now offers awards totaling up to $500,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends.

Participation in the program is open to undergraduate journalism majors. Students must be actively involved in campus media and must have published articles or photographsor produced newscasts or multimedia piecesthat can be submitted in writing, photojournalism, broadcast news and/or multimedia competitions.