Best of Photojournalism 2008: Video News Photography: Winners

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Clips from the Video News Photography and Editing winners in the Best of Photojournalism 2008 are viewable at Poynter Online.

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Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year Finalists

Dan Bolsem: KCCI/Des Moines, IA
Scott Jensen: KTUU/Anchorage, AK
Everett McEwen: KWGN/Denver, CO
Jonathan Malat: KARE/Minneapolis, MN
Arturo Quezada: KMEX/Los Angeles, CA
Corky Scholl: KUSA/Denver,CO
Noah Skinner: KDVR/Denver, CO
Jon Smith: WTVQ/Lexington, KY and WSAZ/Huntington, WV

Runner-Up

Jonathan Malat: KARE/Minneapolis, MN

Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year

Scott Jensen: KTUU/Anchorage, AK

Judges’ Comments

Tim Griffis

The Judges spend over 9 hours deciding this category, including the last 3 hours just debating the top spots. We had excellent entries to consider. All of the finalists should be very proud.

However, in the closes, most hair- splitting decision I’ve ever been apart of… the separation between the winner and runner up was razor thin. We repeatedly looked at different parts of both entries. The runner-up had some of the most over-the-top, wonderful stories we saw that day. But from beginning to end the winner had the most consistent entry.

Bob Gould

Overall, the judges had a very difficult time making the decision for this very important award.

Out of 32 entries, I was waiting for someone to really “wow” me with their tape…show me something I haven’t seen before. We saw plenty of soldier homecomings; fires with pretty flames, and the disabled person du jour.

Very few really stood out from the pack, and to me, that was the most disappointing.

The good news was that we eventually whittled the finalists down to two and the judges went back and forth debating on who should win. Compelling arguments were made for both. I would’ve rather seen some better spot and general news from both finalists. Much of it was feature-y, but the ultimate decision was made on the difficulty of the shoots; the overall photography and editing; and the moments captured. In my mind uniqueness counted a little as well. (I’ve never seen a whale hunt before—that was impressive)

The winner had plenty of wonderful moments and some well-crafted stories. The judges felt that there may have been too many Iditarod stories, but I didn’t want to penalize for that unless they were weak Iditarod stories. That was some seriously hard work following the team around for however long they had to be out there. The story about the bears in the McNeil River Sanctuary was amazing. Tremendous moments. I also liked, “The Race Behind the Race.” Talk about a difficult shoot! Kudos to the photographer for busting his hump not only shooting this story, but editing as well.

The weakest part of the entry was probably “Totem Teardown.” The judges felt that story was not anything overly extraordinary, however it was solid.

The runner-up entry had some wonderful stories with great moments as well. “Dave the Mailman” was very well-crafted. It’s a good slice of life story about a beloved mailman’s last day on the job. “Entry Level” was also very good—it was about an entrepreneurial kid who runs his own lemonade stand. I felt that the women who sewed pillows was a little long.

Jeff Roberts

Just when I thought the decision making process couldn’t be in harder, this category came up and bit me hard. Somewhere around 10 AM we started watching tapes and didn’t come to a consensus about the winner till around 7pm with hours upon hours of lively debate. I fought for some of the underdogs in this bunch because I thought that they had the kind of stories that represent what most of us shoot day to day and they made them better and stronger. In the end finalists Arturo Quezada and Dan Bolsem were dropped in favor of standouts runner-up, Jonathan Malat and the ultimate winner Scott Jensen. Runner-up Malat had some great pieces with “Entry Level”, a story of a young entrepreneur and “Dave the Mailman” who’s capturing of the mailman’s last day at work had so many great people moments. The big winner of the POY was Scott Jensen, who had what I thought was a great mix of stories being told through the lens. “A Far Off Wild Place” still makes me want to change my vacation plans and head to Alaska and see the bears for myself, though I feel like I have already been there viewing this story. Nice framed shots throughout with lots of natural sound moving the stories along and taking the viewer into the story is what brought this entry ultimately to the front of the pack.

Preston Rudie

Without a doubt this was a very difficult decision and I must say from the onset that I would be honored to work with any of the finalists in this group. That said the winning entry proved he/she could work under difficult conditions, had the eye to capture some amazing pictures, could excel at both day of stories and long form features. Without a doubt “A Far Off Wild Place” is a story everyone should watch. The pacing, the composition, the interview shots are all great! It is easily one of, if not the best story we have seen this week.

The photojournalist also did a wonderful job covering spot news. Loved the bear crossing the road in “He was in the Neighborhood.” The little girl interview was super and the other tight shots of the bear in this story also stood out. While I did think “Talkeetna’s Crazy Night” was a bit confusing and left some nat sound opportunities on the floor, the story did demonstrate the photojournalist’s ability to edit and shoot quicker paced stories as did “”The Race Behind the Race.”

A couple other quick notes; I loved the natural sound of the pulleys in “Whaling as a Way of Life,” thanks for the wonderful opening shot in “Iditarod on the Yukon; The Front Runner” and “Wind Hunters” was also a strong story that represented this photojournalist’s fantastic abilities. GREAT JOB!

Nellie Stinson

After hours of going back and forth, re-watching video and debating; this was a very hard decision. I felt that the winning photographer had to deal with more obstacles when covering all of his stories. His stories on the Iditarod showed his patience in getting that perfect shot. He captured reactions. I cheered with the townspeople as the whale that killed for food was dragged up on the shore.

The story that stands out the most is about a place where humans get an up close and personal look at the life of a brown bear.

Overall, the photographer told solid stories that were well rounded, full of nat sound, and solid storytelling.

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