Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Rochester - Post-Bulletin Entry Title: DEA shows unusually high shipments of opioids to small-town Minn. Entry Credit: Paul Scott Judge Comment: Excellent reporting, backed by strong writing, on a topic that many communities have had to come to grips with - opioids. The story includes good context on the easy flow of the drugs, along with addressing the human toll.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Fargo/Moorhead - The Forum Entry Title: Fighting the feds Entry Credit: April Baumgarten Judge Comment: Compelling read on story sure to capture readers' attention, particularly as the related immigration policy debate continues.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Grand Forks Herald Entry Title: Horribly disappointing Entry Credit: Sydney Mook, Tess Williams Judge Comment: Horribly disappointing. Great reporting/sourcing and context on a story that likely drew intense interest based on the leaders involved and the race and gender issues that came into play.
Competition Comment: Very difficult competition to judge, with lots of strong entries. It was also more difficult because some stories were literally hard, breaking news and other entries were more hard news enterprise and the efforts devoted to reporting and writing and the time allotted to polish copy on those two types of stories varies greatly.
