Arts & Entertainment Story ( 2 Year College/University,4 Year College/University)Back
Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: The Concordian (Moorhead) Entry Title: The show must go on: Concordia On-Air prevails through pandemic Entry Credit: Maria Klipfel Judge Comment: The reporter let their creativity shine and go beyond a straight news lede, which is appropriate and expected for a story on the arts but not many entries dared to try something fun and different. It was refreshing to be placed in the scene and feel on-air with great pace and color. Bravo!
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Tommie Media (University of St. Thomas) Entry Title: Local hip-hop musician promotes equity through music Entry Credit: Owen Larson, Molly Heimel Judge Comment: This is more than an album review and profile on Nur-D. The reporter took the risk of diving into the biggest news story of the 2020, the murder of George Floyd, and localize it to the St. Thomas campus by leaning on a music professor to explain the connection and history of protests influencing music, like Nur-D's hip-hop. Fascinating and well-reported story that took on such a huge issue and handled it with grace.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: The Mac Weekly (Macalester) Entry Title: WMCN shifting from pause to play Entry Credit: Betsy Barthelemy Judge Comment: Compelling lede paired nicely with the tightly-written story made me want to listen to WMCN. I commend the team's ambition to pivot and for the reporter giving a glimpse of what the pandemic meant for the school's radio station, which is as much as an institution as the school's paper.
