Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Ackley - Ackley World Journal Entry Title: Surreal & Alarming Entry Credit: Becky Schipper Judge Comment: Nicely told, a story of a Ukrainian refuge which delves not just into the reaction now, but a bit into the history of the nation, its relationship with Russia, and Russia's other attempts at invasions, and how those affect the subject of the story.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Perry - Perry Chief Entry Title: Perry community rallies around police after shooting injures chief Entry Credit: Allison Ullmann Judge Comment: Nice, feel good story of a community rallying around the local police chief, who was shot in the line of duty. The story reads well, and easily goes into the background of what happened, then back into the present story.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: West Branch - West Branch Times Entry Title: Kaufmann: Men threatened to bomb my family & office Entry Credit: Gregory Norfleet Judge Comment: Nice story of a contentious meeting following a politician having given political opponents an obscene gesture, then using changing stories to justify his actions. Reporter went the extra step of talking afterward with some involved in the meeting that was written about in the story. It can be far too easy to get into a back and forth, write-every statement mentality in these sorts of stories, which simply muddles the reporting. This reporter steered clear of that and kept it clear and easily digestible.
