Home » Former Kentucky Kernel Editor-in-Chief ranks in Top 5 for National Collegiate Hearst Journalism Awards

Former Kentucky Kernel Editor-in-Chief ranks in Top 5 for National Collegiate Hearst Journalism Awards

Annual Hearst Journalism Awards Program

LEXINGTON, Ky. — May 2020 journalism graduate and former Kentucky Kernel editor-in-chief Bailey Vandiver placed fourth in the Explanatory Reporting Competition of the 2020-2021 Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program. In addition to being recognized among top journalists in the nation, Vandiver has received a $1,000 scholarship.

Vandiver’s story, titled “Lexington’s East End: A changing neighborhood,” encompasses the lives of the citizens of Lexington’s East End and how they envision the future of their home. Vandiver specifically wanted to collect the stories from the historically Black neighborhood to open a discussion on the effects of revitalization and gentrification on the neighborhood.

While Vandiver was excited to receive a Hearst Award, she was initially shocked; Instead of entering her own work into the awards program, Kentucky Kernel and Student Media Advisor Ryan Craig took the liberty of entering Vandiver’s piece.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program was founded as a way to support and assist journalism education at the collegiate level. The program awards scholarships to students with outstanding performance in divisions including writing, photojournalism, audio, television, and multimedia competitions. To enter any competition hosted by the Hearst Awards, students must be involved in campus media and must have published articles, photographs, or newscasts that can be submitted.

The School of Journalism and Media is part of the University of Kentucky College of Communication and Information. The Kentucky Kernel and Student Media are also housed in the College of Communication and Information.