BetterBNC

Place Name: First Place
Contestant Name: California State University Fullerton -- Al Dia
Entry Title: Our America
Entry Credit: Tristan Maglunog, Samantha Aguilar, Edwin Flores, Brenda Elizondo, Noah Biesiada
Judge Comment: Outstanding range of stories. Good use of videos and graphics. Remember to respect the readers' time and don't overwhelm them with too much content. I would have liked to have seen some mention of how these issues affect the CSUF community. Blood quantum is an interesting topic. But the writer offers too many opinions (I don't know whose) as statements of fact. For instance, "For over 500 years, the Native American community continues to be the minority group with the greatest overabundance of disparities as they remain marginalized by the federal government." And "Although blood quantum is not scientifically accurate..." Need comment from the government in response to these claims.

Place Name: Second Place
Contestant Name: UC Berkeley
Entry Title: The Daily Californian's coverage of social justice in Berkeley and beyond
Entry Credit: Sarah Harris, Thao Nguyen, Serene Chang, Veronica Roseborough, Annika Constantino, Shannon Bonet
Judge Comment: Good range of stories (Redlining especially and a deep dive on Asian hate crimes), presentations and authentic voices with some depth. Why is this opinion in a news story? "The remedy to the city’s racism and housing crises lies not only in the Berkeley City Council’s recent decision to remove single-family zoning. It will rely on a newfound support for higher-density zoning amid retaliation from community members lest we risk furthering the injustices and bleaching of the city of Berkeley."

Place Name: Third Place
Contestant Name: Cal State Long Beach
Entry Title: Puvungna coverage
Entry Credit: Madalyn Amato Julia Terbeche, Richard Grant Lauren Berny
Judge Comment: Excellent hard-news stories. Wish the one about the parking lot had reaction from the administration to the emails that showed they planned to build the lot. Good photos in the package. Would have liked to have seen more than one issue explored in the entry.

Competition Comment: The best entries went beyond coverage of protests and photos of people holding signs. Stories with depth and examining policies that helped create systemic racism go beyond the ordinary. Videos of people telling their stories were particularly compelling. Watch out for unattributed opinions in these stories, even the winning entries.

Best Social Justice Coverage ( More than 15,000 Students)Back