ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 14,2005) – It was another sunny morning in St. Petersburg as Day Two of the NPPA's Best Of Photojournalism Television contest judging continued. Contest chair Merry Murray pulled 49 General News stories out of a big box and the tapes, stacked on the table, waited with nervous anticipation like a contestant on American Idol.
They waited their turn to impress the judges, knowing of the chances they would be critiqued, praised, or torn apart — and they were. With comments reminiscent of Simon Cowell, the judges became passionate and debated for hours.
“I don’t see how that’s news!”
“No way, Jose!”
“Best use of video shot not using a viewfinder.”
“In all the stories we’ve seen, there has been a lack of tight shots.”
“Those effects make me feel as if I was watching a mothers against drunk driving commercial.”
“It kills me there’s no closing shot,” said Katrina Brown, referring to a story that the judges deemed a finalist.
The comments weren’t all negative: “The opening of that shot with the leaves… that was chilling." “That moment… Wow!” “Some very solid photography.”
This year's Best Of Photojournalism 2005 Television contest represents 180 stations, networks, and freelancers from the United States, Canada, and Denmark, with entries from 108 different photojournalists. There are 30 Spot News entries, 37 Deadline Photography entries, 49 General News entries, and 46 "48 Hour" features.
Judges will also view 74 Feature entries, 39 Sports entries, 17 "In-Depth & Series" entries, and 10 Team entries. There are 12 entries in the Documentary category, and 23 entries in the Ernie Crisp Television Photographer Of The Year category. For the Station Of The Year honors, there are 7 Small Market entries, 13 Medium Market entries, and 17 Large Market entries.
On Monday the judges wrestled over some stories where the photography shined, but the story itself was lacking.
Reporter/assignment editor Richard Essex of WTHR-TV said, “You cannot have good storytelling without extraordinary photography.”
“I think the first place story (in General News) was the complete package with all the elements of great journalism, photography, and emotional moments,” said Kurt Austin, of KGW in Portland, OR.
Judge Kenny Reynolds agreed. “Watching the General News category reinforced the idea that our job as photojournalists is not just about capturing video, but is about getting moments as well."
Like a deadlocked jury, tensions mounted and voices got louder. “Every story’s got to earn its place,” said Scott Hedeen. By 3:30 p.m., the jury had a verdict and it was time for a well-earned break. “I need some more coffee and a trip to the little photographers’ room,” Hedeen said.
The panel was ready to tackle Sports.
Some 39 stories later, the judges picked 9 finalists to watch again. ”I’ve never seen that kind of access at a major league baseball game,” Hedeen said after watching a story shot at a Texas Rangers game.
The dialogue didn’t get as heated, but the competition was stiffer in the Sports category.
“I was really, really impressed with these stories,” Essex said. Austin agreed. “I think there were a lot of really strong stories here,” he said. Katrina Brown commented, “These stories had the best effort from any we’ve seen so far. It was surprising to see stories with good characters to really pull you in.”
After some Chinese take-out for dinner, the judges returned to watch 17 “Team” entries. They whittled it down to six finalists. “Not to be annoying, but can I watch those two again?” Brown said.
They wanted to find winners in this category that emphasized the team concept. Stories that needed more than one photojournalist to tell the story received more weight than those that could’ve been shot by just one.
Reynolds added, “There were several stories that we felt could’ve been done by a single photographer. The winning entry could not have been shot without the use of a team.”
Katrina Brown summed up the day: “I think it’s excellent that we’re seeing stories from around the world, including France and Denmark, as well as national stories from the U.S. networks, and I hope it encourages more to enter.”
The judges will be back at it on Tuesday morning for another full day. - Bob Gould
Stay tuned this week as Bob Gould files daily stories from the judging, and winners are announced on Friday during a Webcast hosted on www.poynter.org.
The Best Of Photojournalism 2005 Television contest page is updated daily during the judging.
Sunday's story: The television judging got started with Spot News categories as judges gathered at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
Monday's story: Judges picked winners from General News and Sports categories.
Tuesday's story: Judges picked winners from the Features and Documentary categories.
Television judges: Read their biographies and see a slide show of the judging.
Last week: The Best Use Of Pictures and Editing categories were judged at Ohio University in Athens, OH. Read about that judging here, along with information about the Best Of Photojournalism Still Photography and Web site judges for 2005.
