DURHAM, NC (March 21, 2008) - Judging in the Still Photography and Web categories of NPPA's Best Of Photojournalism competition will start Monday at the contest's host site, The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, FL, and it's NPPA's biggest Best Of Photojournalism contest to date.
"More than 4,000 people entered the contest, up more than 25 percent over last year," NPPA executive director Jim Straight said. "There are more than 21,000 entries totaling over 58,000 individual items (photographs, clips, and Web sites). That's up 3 percent over last year, with a 20 percent shorter entry period."
Photographers from more than 140 countries entered this year's Best Of Photojournalism competition, which has remained a free contest with no entry fees since its beginning.
Winners of each day's categories will be announced daily on the NPPA Web site, and the BOP's Photojournalists of the Year and the winner of Cliff Edom's "New America Award" will be announced at the end of the week.
Winners in this year's Best Of Photojournalism contest's Television and Web Video categories were picked during judging earlier this month at The Poynter Institute. Scott Jensen of KTUU-TV in Anchorage, AK, was named the new Ernie Crisp Television News Photographer of the Year, Shawn Montano of KCNC-TV in Denver, CO, was named the new Video Editor of the Year, and stations KARE-TV from Minneapolis, MN, WYFF-TV from Greenville, SC, and KTUU-TV were picked as Stations of the Year.
In last year's BOP contest, Carolyn Cole of the Los Angeles Times won Photojournalist of the Year (Large Market), Mary F. Calvert of The Washington Times won Photojournalist of the Year (Small Market), and Sarah Voisin of The Washington Post won Cliff Edom's "New America Award."
Judges for this year's Best Of Photojournalism still photography categories are Dudley Brooks, formerly of The Washington Post and who is now with Ebony/Jet Magazines; Suzette Moyer of the St. Petersburg Times; Jens-Kristian Soegaard, the director of photography for Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten (the main daily newspaper in Denmark); Mary F. Calvert of The Washington Times (who was last year's BOP Photojournalist of the Year for Small Markets); and Deanne Fitzmaurice of the San Francisco Chronicle (who won 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography).
Judges of BOP's Web categories are Ellyn Angelotti, an adjunct faculty member and editor for The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, FL; Michelle Maltais, a deputy editor of business and technology for the Los Angeles Times' Web site; Irwin Thompson, the deputy director of photography for The Dallas Morning News; Seth M. Gitner, a multimedia journalist for Roanoke.com and The Roanoke Times; and Thea Breite, multimedia photography editor for The Boston Globe.
Judging next week at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, the contest's host site, has been coordinated by Thomas Kenniff, who is NPPA's director of sales and contests.
NPPA's Best Of Photojournalism judging is sponsored this year by Apple's Aperture, Canon USA, NPPA, and The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
