Best of Photojournalism 2006: TV News Photography: Winners
In-Depth Finalists
(In Alphabetical Order)
- Brett Akagi, KARE-TV, Minneapolis, MN
- “Lillian and Genzo, Their Story”
- Jason Hanson, KSTP-TV, Minneapolis, MN
- “Kristin’s Fight”
- Stan Heist, WBFF-TV, Baltimore, MD
- “Erik’s Heroes”
- Gary Knox, KARE-TV, Minneapolis, MN
- “He’s Brendan”
- “Something Hidden”
- Jonathan Malat, KARE-TV, Minneapolis, MN
- “Meth in Minnesota”
- Ken Mostek, KUSA-TV, Denver, CO
- “Tabi’s Journey”
- Ron Stover, KARE-TV, Minneapolis, MN
- “K- 9 Grads”
- Dan Weaver, KUSA-TV, Denver, CO
- “A & P”
- Dan Wood, KUSA-TV, Denver, CO
- “Old Cowboys”
Winners
- 1st Jason Hanson, KSTP-TV, Minneapolis, MN, “Kristin’s Fight”
- 2nd Brett Akagi, KARE-TV, Minneapolis, MN, “Lillian and Genzo, Their Story”
- 3rd Ron Stover, KARE-TV, Minneapolis, MN, “K-9 Grads”
- HM Gary Knox, KARE-TV, Minneapolis, MN, “He’s Brendan”
- HM Stan Heist, WBFF-TV, Baltimore, MD, “Erik’s Heroes”
Judges' comments
“I really enjoyed this category! The best one that we have seen so far!” Lou Davis said. “The excellence was astounding! Great closing shots, sequencing, point of view angles, stand, ups that moved the stories forward, images that went deeper to attract the eye, characters that we all cared about, editing that didn’t draw attention to itself and appropriate illustrations when time and place issues arose. This category made me feel really good about why we do what we do! The top two stories are bound to spark discussion in our industry, but I’m confident that they were the two best of the 68 entries.”
“Simple techniques in storytelling made the biggest impact here. For me, again, it was about substance over style. I never liked polyester…”
“An important note: Sometimes it’s not so much what we bring to our stories as photojournalists, but the spirit of the people that we tell stories about…”
Kevin Labrecque said, “This category had some of the best entries that I’ve seen all week. They were also the hardest to judge because the finalists were all so good. Emotion played a big part in how I voted. From happy to sad they all kept me engaged all the way through.”
Ray Meints said, “I can’t express enough just how proud I am of the photojournalism community. Judging this years Best Of Photojournalism Television contest has lifted my spirit. Excellent work by very dedicated journalist! This contest was so much more than pretty pictures. It was about story telling that affected lives. One of the categories that best exemplified that photojournalism excellence was the In- Depth Series category.”
“First place was a three-part series dealing with a battle to fight cancer by KSTP-TV. Great story! Good open with good emotion right off the bat that drew me in. Extremely well shot with many great moments. Good sound helped advance this story.”
“The story was very well done with great production values and great access to the subject, and video inside the hospital. Since Kristin was an anchor at the station, you would expect that great access. We did however have an extended debate about awarding stories about one of your own. One of the challenges for all photojournalist is to develop relationships with your subjects. We need to work hard to gain their trust. In the case of not only this story, but the second place winner, the stories revolved around industry professionals. You would expect that trust relationship to be easier. In this regard, the entrants may have had an advantage. But there are also times that that relationship can work against you. After considerable debate, we decided that the stories stood on their own merits. They truly represented the Best in Photojournalism. I have total faith that both stories were produced with the utmost professionalism. I will however always continue to question stories done about yourself, your family, or anyone with close personal ties.”
“Second place was a wonderful look back at the struggles of a Japanese American family who battled to raise their children in the Midwest. This was a first person point of view story produced by KARE-TV photojournalist Brett Akagi. Well produced, emotional, that told a great story. This is what great photojournalism is all about.”
Greg Stotelmyer said, “Many of the stories in this category make you proud to be a journalist. It was an uplifting morning and early afternoon judging this category. It was the most solid, from top to bottom, that we’ve judged so far, triggering a great debate among the five of us. The debate ranged from the technical aspects of photographer story telling to the impartiality of journalist involvement in a story. The lump in the throat factor pushed two of the five to the top.”
“In all of the stories, the building of the story line was very good and the payoffs were many, with fantastic photography throughout. We did see, among the stories kicked quickly from consideration, failed execution in stories with great promise.”
“‘Kristin’s Fight’ delivers immediate emotion and never lets up. The supporting video, beyond the compelling words of the reporter with cancer, subtly moved the strong along. ‘Lillian and Genzo, Their Story’ was a refreshing take on an approach I normally detest. The journalist told his own heart-wrenching story about his elderly parents. It was from his heart and he was upfront about it. Through the lens and his simple words, we got a rare and pure invite into one family’s heart and soul. It tackled an issue that television journalism, for the most part, ignores most of the time. Aging parents. Here’s hoping this tremendous effort doesn’t encourage reporters to interject themselves into stories for no good reason. Exceptions can be made and I just finished judging one.”
“Again, what I saw in the last few hours makes me proud of the profession I’m in and in recent years that’s become harder to say. Not today!”
Ernesto Torres said, “‘When the party is rocking they come knocking.’ That was the mood in the room when it came to judging the In-Depth category. It was one of the most difficult and challenging decisions we had to make but at the end it was the story that was told the best by using all the tools and it did not matter that the topic or the person in the story was part of the media.”
“At the end it was about storytelling at the highest level and ‘Kristin’s Fight’ had that and much more. ‘Lillian and Genzo’ was one of the best stories I have seen in a long time done by a photojournalist. It was done with such passion and pride that the pictures, characters, and editing stood out that much more. I can honestly say that I am proud to be a photojournalist after all the stores I have seen today and all this past week.”
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