Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: The Washington Times Entry Title: Ukraine Coverage Entry Credit: Ben Wolfgang, Joseph Clark Judge Comment: So many aspects of the war were detailed, coming to life because the stories were well written.
The human element of a French soldier’s conflict whether or not to fight with Ukraine, with his military hero grandfather’s ties there.
Also the strategic effect examples,
involving air control — surprising many experts — and soldier morale both greatly affecting the outcome to date.
And the irony of Democratic “hawks” in Congress surprising pacifist groups.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: The Roanoke Times Entry Title: Mountain Valley Pipeline coverage Entry Credit: Laurence Hammack Judge Comment: Lots of moving parts come together extremely well. Adding the human interest
element of the hiker was important. Good job of making this battle interesting, from story to story, laying out the various conflicts: namely environmental concerns versus consumer economic benefit and the courts versus government experts and Congress.
And reminding readers that billions of dollars continue to be added to a years-delayed project that may, ultimately, be scrapped, therefore wasting billions yet scarring the landscape.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: The Virginian-Pilot Entry Title: Newport News Entry Credit: Peter Dujardin Judge Comment: Nice job of tugging at the readers’ hearts, reflecting in detail residents’ love of their trailer community. You grab the reader immediately with the human element. You felt bad for the soon-to-be evicted residents — yet the story also detailed the limited options the airport authorities had, for all practical purposes, to save the park.
Place Name: Alternate Winner Contestant Name: The Roanoke Times Entry Title: March-Williams controversy Entry Credit: Luke Weir, Yann Ranaivo Judge Comment: A real soap opera well documented, weaving business into the political realm with battle lines firmly drawn.
