Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: San Francisco Chronicle Entry Title: The Camp Fire Entry Credit: Chronicle Staff Judge Comment: This was by far the best entry with compelling stories, excellent use of multi-media and superior photography. Also the website is attractive and easy to navigate. I thought the coverage was a bit too broad given the category of breaking news. For instance the story about heavy rains affecting future fires seemed much too far after the event. I did however enjoy the photo essay on the Nutcracker ballet, which was also long after the fire ended. The story on firefighter Don Andrews’ struggle to survive was very compelling. Also I had issues with the paper’s pay wall which prevented me from viewing all of the entry.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Palo Alto Weekly Entry Title: Cold case solved: Arlis Perry murder Entry Credit: Palo Alto Weekly Staff Judge Comment: Good in depth coverage of an obviously very difficult breaking news story combined with the communityâs frustration over a murder that was unsolved for 44 years. I felt the writing was quite good but the overall reporting was hurt by the lack of professional photography. Also video needs to be edited. Few readers will sit through 15 to 20 minutes of a man talking at a podium.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Ventura County Star Entry Title: Mass shooting at Borderline Bar & Grill Entry Credit: Ventura County Star staff Judge Comment: Heartbreaking story of what has become an all too common occurrence in America today. Good writing and very good use of multi media although I found the website hard to use at times. Photography was quite good but needed a tighter edit. I also noted that the same video was used for more than one update. Similar to other entrants in the category I was not able to review all of the materials because of the paper’s pay wall.
Place Name: Fourth Place Contestant Name: Ventura County Star Entry Title: Montecito Mudslides and the Aftermath Entry Credit: Cheri Carlson, Jeremy Childs, Christian Martinez Judge Comment: Another good breaking news story. I felt a bit more detachment from the subject matter Compared to the Boderline Grill story, also the photography was not as good. Similar to other entrants in the category I was not able to review all of the materials because of the paper’s pay wall.
