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Tim Tai Places Second in Hearst Photojournalism Competition, Wins $2,000

Photo by Tim Tai
Donnie Perkins, right, wipes his forehead while watching members of Columbia Fire Department investigate a fire at the home he shared with his mother in the Rustic Meadows trailer park in Columbia, Missouri, on Monday, April 27, 2015. No one was injured in the fire, which seriously damaged the mobile home.

The Competition Drew 127 Entries from 68 Schools Nationwide

San Francisco (Dec. 22, 2015) — Tim Tai, a Missouri School of Journalism photojournalism senior, placed second in the News and Features Photojournalism Competition of the 2015-16 Hearst Journalism Awards Program. This was the first of two photo competitions held each year.

Tai submitted a portfolio of eight photos to the competition. The pictures were taken for the Columbia Missourian, the Tulsa World where he interned this summer, ZUMA Press and ESPN.com. Tai wins a $2,000 award, and the School receives a matching grant.

Tai has earned numerous awards for his photography. He is the first recipient of the 2016 First Amendment Defender Award, sponsored by the Radio Television Digital News Foundation. Tai was one of the six finalists in the 2014-15 Hearst National Photojournalism Championship and won the award for Best Single Photograph.

Timothy Tai
Timothy Tai

The winners were selected from 127 entries submitted from 68 schools nationwide. The top winners, along with the top finalists in the next photo competition and two overall highest scorers, will submit additional photos for the semi-final round of judging next April. Six finalists will be chosen from that round to compete in the program’s National Photojournalism Championship, along with writing, broadcast and multimedia finalists. The Championship will be held this June in San Francisco.

The photojournalism judges are: Sue Morrow, assistant multimedia director, Sacramento Bee, California; Kenneth Irby, Independent Visual Consultant, St. Petersburg, Florida; and Lisa Krantz, staff photographer, San Antonio Express-News in Texas.

The Journalism Awards Program also includes five writing, one radio, two television, and four multimedia competitions offering up to $500,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends. A total of 110-member universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.

Updated: September 14, 2020

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