Video Photojournalism Division Judges

Christine Lien

Christine Lien graduated from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism in 2013 with a degree in broadcast journalism. After she graduated, she spent a year in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, waking up at 3AM every day, as a morning show photographer. When she left Iowa, she landed a job at NPPA storytelling powerhouse WBFF in Baltimore, where she covered everything from politics to crime, and the Baltimore riots. She regularly placed in the NPPA quarterly clip contest and won 2 Emmys during her time at WBFF. After 3 years in Baltimore she was offered a job at the CNN bureau in Washington, D.C. She is one of five female photojournalists working domestically for CNN. During her time at CNN, she has spent a lot of time covering news on Capitol Hill, the White House, and travels frequently to cover national breaking news. She is part of the White House press pool and regularly travels and flies with the President on AF1. On her most recent international trip, she traveled with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, India, Japan, and South Korea. In her spare time, she loves cooking, biking, teaching personal finance, and mentoring young photojournalists.

Ray Arzate

A storyteller at heart, Ray Arzate is currently the Promotions Manager at KVVU FOX5 Las Vegas, prior to that he was a Chief Photographer. Ray has worked in the business for over 18 years all over the country. He started off in El Paso, TX as a studio camera operator and moved up to Photojournalist. He then worked in Nashville for 4 years before moving to Atlanta to work as a MMJ for CBS 46. He moved back to Nashville as a special projects photographer and started a production company doing music videos, commercial production. In 2015 Ray made the move for the west coast and the Las Vegas Market. He has won 26 Emmy Awards, 12 AP Broadcasters Awards, 3 Edward R. Murrow, 3 Promaxbda Awards, 4 NPPA Best of Photojournalism Contest Awards & 1 Silver Gavel Award Finalist.

Evelio Contreras

"Evelio Contreras is a producer, shooter and editor for CNN Digital in New York. He produces and works on multimedia projects for cnn.com with a focus on personal stories. He is part of a three-person climate change unit for CNN TV with correspondent Bill Weir and is currently working on stories focused on coronavirus and the impact it has on at-risk communities. His recent work on an immigration documentary for CNN this past year was recognized with a Peabody. His online video storytelling work at The Roanoke Times, the Las Vegas Sun and The Washington Post has received recognition from various groups, including the National Press Photographer’s Association, Online News Association and Harvard's Nieman Storyboard. His work at CNN has been recognized by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Editor and Publisher and NPPA. Evelio was born in Texas and is a border town kid at heart, and the son of migrant workers, who like his parents, sees his travels and journeys across the U.S. as continuing the same story that they began, which is to build a better life for folks that he meets and considers like family along the way. "

Scott Jensen

"Scott’s career spans television and newspaper newsrooms in Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, and Anchorage. In addition to his specialty – creating emotionally impactful video content on deadline – Jensen has more than a decade of experience successfully managing the creative, editorial, production, and personnel elements of television news departments including KTUU-TV in Anchorage and KING-TV in Seattle. His storytelling honors include two NPPA Ernie Crisp Photographer of the Year awards six NPPA Station of the Year awards, and two National Edward R. Murrow awards. He has earned two dozen regional Emmys for producing coverage of general and breaking news, features, and non-narrated stories. Scott co-owns and operates Jensen Hall Creative in Anchorage, Alaska."

Victoria Sanchez

"Victoria Sanchez is an Emmy award winning journalist covering health stories in the Washington DC region. Before becoming the health reporter at WJLA, she covered a wide range of topics from Washington politics, professional sports, wildfires, mass shootings and human-interest stories. She joined ABC7/WJLA-TV in January 2018. Before heading to the East Coast, Victoria worked as a reporter and fill-in anchor for KUSA-TV in Denver, Colorado. Originally from California, Victoria reported and anchored for KEYT-TV in Santa Barbara and both KCOY-TV and KKFX-TV in Santa Maria. Victoria is a graduate from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science. She also earned her master’s degree in Public Administration from California State University, Northridge. Before heading to a four-year school, she attended Santa Barbara City College in California where she continued to develop her passion for journalism. Victoria is a mom and wife who loves to spend time with her family. Fun facts: Victoria was on the Price is Right in college, has gone sky diving, trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and loves to cook."