Best of Photojournalism 2008: Video News Photography: Winners

Friday, March 7th

Thursday, March 6th

Wednesday, March 5th

Tuesday, March 4th

Monday, March 3rd

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

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Judges’ Choice

TV News Photography: “A Far Off Wild Place”; Scott Jensen, KTUU/Anchorage, AK
Web Photography: “Crisis in Darfur Expands”; Travis Fox, Washingtonpost.com

Judges’ comments

Robert Gould

The judges picked two judge’s choice stories. Crisis in Darfur and “A Far off Wild Place”. I’ve mentioned before that “wild place” is an awesome mesmerizing story about brown bears in the Mcneill River. The judges enjoyed it from the first time we saw it earlier in the week and talked about it often.

Crisis in Darfur was an online entry with beautiful images and an extremely compelling story about refugees in Darfur. I think everyone needs to see this piece. It’s very powerful and really tells a great story.

Overall, we had a great week and saw some pretty great work. I am thrilled to be part of history as a judge of the TV BOP contest. I appreciate the opportunity and wish that everyone could see the storytelling that’s happening around the country.

My only hope is that photojournalists keep pushing news directors to let them tell great stories. We have been seeing a decline over the past several years on the emphasis of great storytelling. With more online videos being produced, I am pleased to see the mini-documentary style making a comeback. Traditional TV stations should take note that this kind of compelling storytelling should not be overlooked.

Jeff Roberts

Scott Jensen of KTUU-TV in Anchorage brings a “A Far Off Wild Place” right to the screen in this story of the McNeil River Bear Viewing and Wildlife Sanctuary. This story had breathtaking views of brown bears in their natural habitat. One moment had a close up of a bear feeding upon salmon and hearing the sounds of ripping flesh and crunching bone.

“Crisis in Darfur Expands” is a simply told story of refugees from Travis Fox of the Washington Post. Bleak living conditions and the raw elements of the surroundings help bring the viewer to understand the problems of the refugees. One woman who shares her story of repeatedly being raped at the hands of rival tribesmen as we all feel the pain.

Nellie Stinson

Judges’ choice for the web should be the poster child for web journalism. The soundbites were allowed to breath and the pictures were breathtaking. The Judges’ choice for the television category was beautifully shot, the sound was crisp, and it just left you with the “wow” factor. This was truly a magnificent piece of art.

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