CU Journalism Student Wins Top Place In Hearst Broadcast News Competition
Jan. 14, 2008

University of Colorado at Boulder journalism student Thomas Hendrick interviews a woman during a 2005 anti-war demonstration in downtown Denver. Hendrick, a senior who is majoring in broadcast journalism and political science, recently won top honors for feature reporting in the broadcast news category of the Hearst Foundation's annual journalism awards program. (Photo courtesy of Thomas Hendrick).

A University of Colorado at Boulder student has won first place in the features category for broadcast news reporting in the William Randolph Hearst Foundation's annual journalism awards program.

Thomas Hendrick, a senior majoring in broadcast news at the CU School of Journalism and Mass Communication, surpassed 64 other scholars from around the United States to advance to the semi-finals and win a shot at a national championship in San Francisco this spring. He will submit three additional news stories for judging in the semi-final round of competition.

Hendrick took top honors and a $2,000 award in the television news category for two feature stories he submitted for the first round of competition in November. One of his winning entries details Oxford, England's 1,000th birthday celebration in 2007 and the other is a report about CU students who practice "slacklining," an athletic form of slack-rope walking at low and high elevations that has gained popularity in recent years.

Hendrick, from Grand Junction, Colo., produced the Oxford feature while studying abroad in England. He loves telling stories about people and places, Hendrick said, but the project proved a bit challenging at first because he had to write, edit, set up and shoot the entire story by himself.

"I had a small camera and my laptop to put everything together and e-mailed it back to the United States," he said. "It is pretty amazing the world we live in where a kid like me can put together a news report half a world away, using a camera from Wal-Mart and an Apple laptop."

Hendrick became interested in broadcast journalism as a high school sophomore. He will graduate from CU-Boulder in May with degrees in journalism and political science and plans to continue in his current job as a part-time writer for KMGH-TV in Denver through the Democratic National Convention in August. His goal is to become a political reporter covering the U.S. Congress.

"I enjoy telling stories the most, showing people things they didn't know before and also learning myself," he said. "Journalists get to be witnesses to history, and as a history buff myself I get a kick out of being there when big events happen - like a town celebrating its 1,000th birthday."

Lee Hood, a seasoned broadcast journalist and assistant professor of journalism at CU-Boulder, said Hendrick has fulfilled multiple responsibilities as a member of her team of student broadcast journalists. In 2006 he was election coordinator for NewsTeam Boulder, the CU campus' television news program, and produced a series of stories about ballot issues. He guided the team's election night coverage and worked as an anchor.

"Thomas is a natural. He has great news instincts," Hood said. "One of his best assets is a nose for news. He comes up with good stories."

To watch Hendrick's winning entries, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKm-dFCfYOY and www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hKO8lEXJ9Y.

For more information on the CU School of Journalism and Mass Communication go to www.colorado.edu/journalism/. For information on the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, visit www.hearstfdn.org/hearst_journalism/index.php.

Contact: Thomas Hendrick, (303) 263-3235
Lee Hood, (303) 492-2572
Deborah Méndez-Wilson, (303) 492-3117

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