2020 California Journalism Awards - Digital Division
Video Journalism-Other ( Monthly Unique Visitors: 400,001 & over)Back
Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: The San Diego Union-Tribune Entry Title: The 50th: A scandal. A dynasty. An election. Entry Credit: Sam Hodgson, Beto Alvarez, Alejandro Tamayo, John Kelley, Jarrod Valliere Judge Comment: Top-notch quality video. It gave a comprehensive breakdown of Duncan Hunter, the court case against him, the district and the community's political leanings. There were so many features that accentuated the story, including subtitles and charts.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: The Sacramento Bee Entry Title: Fear and loathing the year 2020 — illustrated Entry Credit: Sohail Al-Jamea, Jack Ohman, Neil Nakahodo Judge Comment: Wow. What a way to sum up multiple, major events in 2020. There was so much detail in the illustrations, which all covered so many different aspects of all the events. The walking Trump throughout the piece kept everything centered. The humor was the icing on the cake!
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: San Francisco Chronicle Entry Title: The Funeral Singer Entry Credit: Manjula Varghese Judge Comment: Having the funeral singer serve as the narrator made her story more impactful and concluding with the photos of children made it very meaningful. The music was particularly important for a video like this one, and it helped carry the story thorough to the end.
Place Name: Fourth Place Contestant Name: Los Angeles Times Entry Title: Off Menu with Lucas Kwan Peterson Entry Credit: Lucas Kwan Peterson, Cody Long, Yadira Flores, Vesta Partovi Judge Comment: I appreciated how the interviewer quickly built a rapport with each source as he visited each location. It made for an effective story. The videos used many methods to set each scene, from drone shots to close-ups of food preparation, which all help the viewer get transported to each place.
Place Name: Fifth Place Contestant Name: The Mercury News/East Bay Times Entry Title: Coronavirus: After weeks on a ventilator, San Jose mother comes home to the most unbearable news Entry Credit: Randy Vazquez Judge Comment: It was amazing to see how up-close and personal the real impact of losing a loved one to COVID-19. The transitions and accompanying text helped piece together the story, and the transitions helped carry the story to the end.
