Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: UT-Arlington Entry Title: One student killed, another injured in shooting outside Lamar High School Entry Credit: Drew Shaw, Christine Vo Judge Comment: One of the hardest things to do in breaking news is to make sense of the chaos and report anything in depth. The volume of reporting here wins the day in a story that is well-told in a difficult set of circumstances, namely a shooting involving multiple minors.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: UT-Austin Entry Title: Students walk out of class in solidarity with Palestine, in protest of University response, weapons investment Entry Credit: Isabella Zeff, Pili Saravia Judge Comment: One of the best explainer pieces I've seen in how the Palestine/Israel conflict impacts local individuals at a college level. The quick work on this, based on the breaking news of a protest, made this effort all the more impressive.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: UT-Dallas Entry Title: Halloween hole in wall: car crash in UV leaves three students displaced Entry Credit: Gregorio Gutierrez Judge Comment: A fantastically reported piece on a chaotic moment involving a car wreck. The ability to interview both the person who caused the wreck and those impacted by it makes it a phenomenal piece.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: UT-Dallas Entry Title: Student Affairs removes Spirit Rocks for platforming “extended political discourse” Entry Credit: Andre Averion, Fatimah Azeem, Jack Sierputowski, Maria Shaikh Judge Comment: A great job of tapping into various communities to ascertain the impact the movement of these stones had on the school. A solidly reported and clearly written story.
Competition Comment: Breaking news remains one of the most difficult things to do in journalism and it is exponentially harder to teach young reporters how to do it. There is no way to recreate the chaos and trauma of a shooting, fire, flood or other breaking news story in a classroom. Thus, the effort put forth by these students to cover breaking news is both admirable and incredible. A great set of entries in a tough category.
