Nation’s Leading Multimedia Journalists Compete for Top Industry Awards (download)
(WASHINGTON, D.C. – Feb. 9, 2014) – The White House News Photographers Association announced the winners of the Multimedia categories in the annual ‘Eyes of History™’ competition.
Jim Lo Scalzo won first place in the Linear Storytelling category for Iowa’s County Fairs, a story he produced for European Press Photo agency. Ben de la Cruz took second and third place for two stories produced for National Public Radio, Gizmo Uses Lung Cells To Sniff Out Health Hazards In Urban Air and Exploring The Invisible Universe That Lives On Us – And In Us. Coburn Dukehart received an honorable mention for Brotherhood, Pictures And Life With Cerebral Palsy, a story produced for National Public Radio.
Ken Geiger took first place in Non-Linear Storytelling for the iPad version of The Last Chase, a story produced for The National Geographic chronicling a devastating tornado and the last days of a storm chaser. Geiger also took second for Lions of the Serengeti and third for Last Song, about perils faced by migrating songbirds; all his entries were iPad versions of stories that appeared in the magazine and online. Linda Davidson of The Washington Post received an Honorable Mention for Refuge: Stories from the Syrian Exodus.
Kainaz Amaria won first place in the Innovation category for Planet Money Makes A T-Shirt, a story produced for National Public Radio that uniquely chronicles the hidden world behind clothes sold in the United States. Geiger also took second for The Serengeti Lion.
The judges chose National Geographic’s The Last Chase for Best in Show. “The judges favored strong storytelling over design and beautiful images” said multimedia contest chair Pierre Kattar.
The judges for the Multimedia competition were: Tom Kennedy, Miki Meek and Jennifer Crandall. Kennedy is currently an independent consultant coaching and mentoring individual photographers. Previously, he served as Managing Editor for Multimedia at washingtonpost.com, Director of Photography at National Geographic, Managing Editor/Digital for PBS NewsHour and on the faculty of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Meek is a radio producer at This American Life. Ms. Meek previously worked as an online producer and editor for National Geographic, where she specialized in interactive and visual storytelling and helped launch the magazine’s first website. She also played a similar role at The New York. Crandall is a freelance video producer, shooter, editor and consultant. Previously, she was a multimedia journalist at The Washington Post, video editor at The Video Journalism Movement in the Netherlands, and the Creative Director for Video at Salon.com. Most recently Jennifer has been working with the editorial staff of the Alabama Media Group on creative content development and visual storytelling.
“The winning works showcase the incredible talents of the contributors,” said WHNPA president Ron Sachs. “The bar of excellence in the Multimedia category gets higher each and every year.”
The top winners of the still, video, multimedia and student contests will be honored at the annual ‘Eyes of History™’ gala on May 10, 2014, at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington. The black-tie event celebrates all the winning photojournalists and the President of the United States. Nearly 1,000 guests, including government dignitaries and industry celebrities, attend.
