Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: The Progress-Index Entry Title: Hopewell comes to grips with death of high school football player Entry Credit: Bill Atkinson Judge Comment: Reporter did his job from start to finish—with more to come in 2025. No speculation. Confirmed sourcing right down to the call for emergency assistance. Sourcing went beyond those immediate assisting and responsible. Friends, family included in the coverage. Details,; no speculation. Informed sourcing and good writing kept this story of a young high school athlete’s death alive!
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Martinsville Bulletin Entry Title: Patrick County hospital Entry Credit: Bill Wyatt, Monique Holland Judge Comment: Good reporting for a strory with an ongoing maze of “commitment” and “non-commitment” for this county’s medical hospital services. Even promise of “final” commitment was vacant at the end. Lots of ink, good writing/sourcing (though much from news releases). Absence of some confirmation sourcing with use of unattributed statements.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Northern Virginia Daily Entry Title: Trey Rorie School renaming stories Entry Credit: Trey Rorie Judge Comment: Excellent reporting for this ongoing story. After the launch, each succeeding story included contextual elements in focus for readers. The entry concluded with a story on a legal challenge to the school board’s decision to restore names of confederate generals to two schools after changing them two years previous to non-confederate references. Good sourcing though primarily related to the meetings covered by the reporter
Competition Comment: Most entries brought readers stories of community interest, good contextual references while capturing the essence of focus sources. Some entries, while thoughtfully written, didn't fit the "rules of engagement" posted for this category. Regardless, all these entries prove that professional Journalism best serves readers!
