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Gators tops in the nation, and it's not in sports

University of Florida telecommunication senior Steven Gallo and recent journalism graduate Jon Silman both took home  first place honors  in the Hearst National Journalism Awards Championship Thursday  in San Francisco.

Gallo, who will be a senior in the UF College of Journalism and Communications this fall, took the top spot in the nation in the radio competition and Silman, who graduated from the College in May, won first place in the writing competition.  Each will receive a $5,000 prize.

The 52nd annual program  consisted of five monthly writing competitions, two photojournalism competitions, three broadcast news competitions (one in radio and two in television), and four multimedia competitions – with championship finals in all divisions.

There are 110 universities with accredited undergraduate journalism schools eligible to participate in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program. The Journalism Awards Program is funded and administered by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.

Both students were assigned stories in San Francisco, and had to make their away around a new city, finding news sources, and producing the finished product on deadline.  Gallo has been a WUFT-FM reporter/producer/Morning Edition anchor Here's his winning entry:

http://www.wuft.org/news/files/2012/06/LPR-Privacy_48000.mp3|titles=LPR Privacy_48000

WUFT-FM news director Tom Krynski asked Gallo about the story he produced.

http://www.wuft.org/news/files/2012/06/GALLOQa.mp3|titles=GALLOQ&a

Gallo, who WUFT-FM listeners might recall, has been a Morning Edition host, as well as a reporter and anchor for Florida's 89 point one.  He's from Boca Raton, Florida.

Contact WUFT News by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news @wuft.org