WOW
Meet the “winners of the winners.”
We asked our rotating cast of judges – 11 in all – to choose the best entries from among all their weekly winners.
For the past two months, trios of those judges perused each week’s entries and amiably bickered on Sunday night calls that could last well over an hour. This past Sunday night, it ended in mere minutes. There was simply no debate who wowed them.
Turns out those WOWs were as geographically diverse as their content, which included investigations from a broadcast outlet, a column from a newspaper, and a video posted to Facebook…
WUFT
- Stuck In Peru: Coronavirus Strands Gainesville Woman Far From Home
- Background Checks Reflecting Gun Sales Break New Records In Florida, Nationally
- Unintended Consequences: Lawmaker Says He Never Meant To Allow Florida Colleges, Universities To Hide Details Of Pandemic Response Plans
- Sanford Orlando Kennel Club forced to close doors early
- Keeping The Family Restaurant Open In The Pandemic: It’s All We Have Ever Known
One college media outlet dominated The CCC Awards. And four women – Dana Cassidy, Angela DiMichele, Karina Elwood, and Tobie Nell Perkins – dominated the COVID-19 coverage at WUFT, the public radio and TV station based in the j-school at the University of Florida.
Thanks to them, WUFT broke news that was picked up by statewide and national media. One of our pro judges (an editor in the DC area) thought one of their ideas was so good, he used it when his newsroom worked on a similar story.
Lily Lamadrid
The Portland State University student wrote about her experiences dating in the coronavirus era, and more than one judge said it was the best writing among more than 1,500 pieces of content submitted to The CCC Awards. Gushed one judge, a newspaper reporter…
I couldn’t stop reading it, and I liked it so much I texted it to my friends so we could discuss it further. It’s an excellent blend of personal essay and information sharing, and it’s one of the few coronavirus stories I’ve read that’s left me feeling hopeful. I’m so impressed.
Amanda Siew
Siew is an international student at the University of Central Oklahoma who headed home to Malaysia to wait out the pandemic with family. One judge, a broadcaster currently covering COVID-19 herself, said of Siew’s individual effort…
It’s not easy being the subject of your own story, let alone having to produce it as a video story that presents all kinds of challenges. And add to that Siew’s forced confinement, and that presents challenges even a veteran journalist would find daunting. Siew has produced a compelling video, and her Twitter feed updates as she made her way through the airport were both enlightening and equally compelling.
What they win: Each student mentioned above gets a free one-year subscription to whatever publication they want. They deserve so much more.
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