Bob Regan Honored with Hearst Award

2024 HEARST AWARD WILL GO TO OPERATION SONG FOUNDER, BOB REGAN

 The SJSU School of Journalism and Mass Communications announced that Bob Regan will receive this year’s William Randolph Hearst Award. Regan was chosen as this year’s honoree because of his work as the founder of Operation Song, a non-profit devoted to improving the lives of our nation’s veterans. Bob Regan has impacted the lives of countless men and women who have served in the armed forces.

Bob Regan joins an exclusive club of Hearst honorees. Just to name a few, Jim Acosta, Sara Sidner, Dan Rather, Dr. Anthony Fauci and Alex Shebanow.

In 2012, Operation Song started with weekly sessions at the VA Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee under the supervision of a music therapist. Groups of up to eight veterans shared stories about their military service and professional songwriters took these stories and transformed them into songs. The format gradually evolved from writing group songs to focusing on individual veterans or service members and their experiences. Thanks to Bob Regan, there have now been 1,815 songs written and 2,646 veterans and families served.

Songwriting and storytelling are intertwined. Bob Regan is intimately involved in both. Now, with his recent foray writing editorials for the Boston Globe, it made choosing this year’s Hearst honoree pretty easy. Bob Regan was honored at the White House last year by President Biden for his work with veterans. He’s been nominated for a Grammy. He’s also a Dove Award nominee and a Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame nominee.