Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Bemidji - The Bemidji Pioneer Entry Title: Protesters block entrances to Bemidji Enbridge office in opposition to Line 3 Entry Credit: Annalise Braught, Hannah Olson Judge Comment: Fantastic writing, fantastic coverage. The reporters offered a balanced, unbiased article on an issue that can be extremely polarizing.
I’d suggest two changes — add voices from a couple protestors who weren’t arrested, and contact local tribe leadership for a comment on the statements made by protestors.
Other than that, I loved it. I commend the reporters for a job well done.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Bemidji - The Bemidji Pioneer Entry Title: Resilience of nation displayed during Red Lake State of the Band Address Entry Credit: Hannah Olson Judge Comment: The technical aspect of the writing is good, although I’m not convinced this article is worthy of being 60-plus inches. I feel like this could have been split into a few shorter articles that would have been easier to digest and would have allowed space to offer more context on some of the major issues.
Competition Comment: I chose not to award a third place in this competition because I don't feel any of the remaining articles warrant an award. One comes close, but there's a critical piece of context missing from it that I only found by going to a linked article.
