Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Smith Mountain Eagle Entry Title: General News Article by William Seidel Entry Credit: William Seidel Judge Comment: Not only described how the issue was being handled locally but incuded detail to help parents, and citizens, understand how the questioned books will be handled. Comprehensive, usable information -- a model for a news story.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Tidewater Review Entry Title: General News Entry Credit: David Macaulay Judge Comment: An easily followed walk through an issue and the government processes that control it . . . then the interesting twist of the involved property into a county parcel with aide applications for the future. Excellent work that is a role model for how a newspaper should cover its community.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: The Commonwealth Times Entry Title: VCU alcohol violations plummeted, students switching to cannabis Entry Credit: Selna Shi Judge Comment: Insightful use of statistics to explain VCU student preferences and reasons away from alcohol and toward marijuana. Inclusion of datsa for other state universities added worthy depth.
Place Name: Alternate Winner Contestant Name: Tidewater Review Entry Title: Mattaponi tribal councils fight for leadership Entry Credit: Amy Jo Martin Judge Comment: Left me wanting to learn more about the apparently complex relationships and interactions within and outside of tribal government. The comment about how women were treated before Europeans were involved may be worth several more stories...
Competition Comment: I would say thst ther high school and college entries were for a specialized audience, and were therefore really not covering "general news." A separate category or two for them might be considered.
