ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 13,2005) – Here are the judges for the Best Of Photojournalism 2005 Television contest being judged this week at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, FL.
Kenny Reynolds of KTHV-TV in Little Rock, AR, is the station's "Creative Coordinator" who takes care of all the contests and serves as the assistant chief photographer. Reynolds attended the University of Central Arkansas studying mass communications in Conway, AR, where he lives. His first television job was as a master control operator at KASN in Little Rock in 1992. He switched to KTHV in 1995 to be a live truck operator, setting up and shooting live shots, before moving across town to KARK in 1996 where he was a photojournalist. In 1998 he made a five-month venture to KOAT in Albuquerque, NM, before returning to KTHV in the Fall of that year. Reynolds has won awards from the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, and Edward R. Murrow Award and Best of Gannett honors.
Katrina (Brown) McCann is a photojournalist at KY3 in Springfield, MO, and she's a Missouri native who attended the University of Missouri at Columbia where she graduated with a broadcast journalism degree in 2000. She worked for KOMU in Columbia, and then part-time at KMBC in Kansas City as a photographer before joining KY3. She's won two Emmys, NPPA awards, Missouri Broadcaster Awards and and Edward r. Murrow Award. "I have a wonderful husband who just returned from Iraq, and two Jack Russell terriers," she says.
Scott Hedeen is a general assignment staff photojournalist for WXIA-TV in Atlanta, GA, the NBC affiliate, “Some twenty years after my college advisor advised me to maybe try something like television news instead of an underground guerrilla documentary direction,” he says. “Previous to adapting to kudzu, high humidity, and traffic jams, I worked at WBFF-TV in Baltimore, MD, and WHTM in Harrisburg, PA. All three are known to make even the strongest of photographers miss a lunch break. I’ve had the privilege of learned from of the best in the business, a knowledge I’m willing to expand upon and share.”
Richard Essex is a reporter for WTHR-TV in Indianapolis, IN. He attended Indiana University in Bloomington, IN, “when basketball was king and the weatherman was still respected,” he says. “This humble career has taken me to four states, five radio stations and five television stations. Currently, I fill a number of roles in the newsroom at WTHR-TV,” in Indianapolis, IN, where he is a reporter and assignment editor.
Kurt Austin is a photojournalist for KGW-TV in Portland, OR, and he's been a photojournalist for nearly 22 years. “I grew up in Gig Harbor, WA, and went to school at L.H. Bates Technical College in Tacoma. After graduation, I promptly went to work at KMID-TV in Midland, TX, in 1983. From there I went on to work at KOLO-TV in Reno,NV, and KXLY-TV in Spokane, WA. I’ve been with KGW-TV in Portland, OR, since 1989.” Austin has won the NPPA Regional Television Photographer Of The Year title in Region 11 six times, and has received many awards, from Edward R. Murrow honors to Emmy’s. “I’ve been married to Kari for 15 years, and we have two boys: Jake, 10, and Sam, 7.”
Editing judge Brandi Paulson is an special projects editor for WKYC-TV in Cleveland, OH, where she's been since July 2004. Previously she worked at WDAF-TV4 in Kansas City, MO, where she was a special projects editor for six year. She's earned two Emmy awards, and last year she was runner-up NPPA Editor of the Year.
Editing judge Paul Pytlowany is a special projects photographer and editor for the UPN/CBS owned and operated station in Detroit, MI. When the station produced a newscast he served as the chief photographer for three years, and has worked there for 17 years. Paul's been awarded 24 regional Emmy's for videography and editing along with numerous NPPA, Michigan Association of Broadcasters, Associated Press, and Michigan Television News Photographer Association awards. He spends his free time with his wife, Whitney, and their two children, Emma and Wes.
Merry Murray, the Best Of Photojournalism 2005 Television National contest chair, has been an NPPA volunteer for more than 13 years. She's a photojournalist for KSNC in Great Bend, KS, and has worked for stations in Lexington, KY, Grand Rapids, MI, and Nashville, TN, during her career as an award-winning photographer.
See a slide show of the judging. The Best Of Photojournalism 2005 Television contest page is updated daily during the judging.
