Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Des Moines - Iowa Capital Dispatch Entry Title: Government on trial Entry Credit: Clark Kauffman Judge Comment: Great variety of stories from Clark Kauffman: labor-trafficking charges at a community college; a false arrest; low pay for defense attorneys as rationale to request a mistrial; tort reform; state discrimination of workers. All were excellent and memorable. The words “insurance,” “medical malpractice” and “tort-reform” do not typically inspire me to read further, but that was seriously a riveting read, made all the more interesting because every side seemed to point fingers to the others due to legitimate grievances and competing interests.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Sioux City - Sioux City Journal Entry Title: Behind the headlines - Signatures tipped Gill off to voter fraud - Fentanyl strikes region - Underrepresented enforcement - Jury finds King didn't infringe on Success Kid copyright Entry Credit: Nick Hytrek, Dolly Butz Judge Comment: What a fantastic variety of coverage! A copyright case, fentanyl proliferation and its effects, voter fraud that cited real people whose ballots were cast before they could do so, a compassionate explanation of Michael Meredith’s struggle with mental health prior to his death (as well as an explanation of what led to the newspaper delving further into the story), and an excellent piece about diversity in police work. Loved the in-depth coverage and broad variety of stories.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Fort Dodge - The Messenger Entry Title: Messenger courts and crime Entry Credit: Kelby Wingert Judge Comment: Useful stories on counterfeit bills and Facebooks scams with photos that show how believable the scams can appear. Well-incorporated victim statement in the stabbing case. The quotes gave more detail about the sequence of events and provided information about the assailant and the victim’s character. For the Gene House story – I saved that quote from the judge, and I hope readers who complain about jury duty had at least a minor change of heart after reading that piece. Altman story shows that nothing is a minor detail when it comes to court cases.
