WHNPA Announces Judges for 2024 ‘Eyes of History®’ Contests

Jen Edney is a seasoned storyteller, adventurer, and explorer of the world’s wonders. From the vast plains of Nebraska to the endless horizons of the open seas, Jen’s journey has been a quest for meaning, connection, and truth.

Her lens captures more than images; it encapsulates the essence of human existence—the raw emotions, fleeting moments, and untold stories beneath the surface. As a sailor, a traveler, and a self-proclaimed “water baby,” Jen’s adventures have taken her to the far corners of the earth, where she has sailed over 50,000 nautical miles and explored over 30 countries. Named one of the “Nine Top Female Adventure Photographers” by National Geographic, Jen’s career began as a photographer but has since evolved into a multi-faceted journey encompassing film, writing, teaching, mentoring, and speaking.

Jen’s signature style is to immerse herself in the story, capturing the expeditionary heart of every situation she shoots. Whether creating a short film, penning a captivating article, or teaching others, her mission remains the same: to use storytelling to connect with people, inspire exploration, and bring joy to their lives. Through her photography, film, writing, teaching, mentoring, and speaking, Jen is helping to create a world that is more adventurous, more connected, and more alive.

Sangsuk Sylvia Kang is a photographer, journalist, and a Photo Editor at TIME Magazine, where she focuses on international stories.

Jose R. Lopez is a former New York Times staff photographer and picture editor who was based in the Washington, D.C. Bureau of The Times from 1985-1993 and covered presidential administrations of Reagan, Bush (41) and Clinton along with other national news and events in Washington, D.C., and the U.S. He served as the Treasurer of the WHNPA during his time in D.C.

Lopez is currently a freelance photo editor, consultant, and photo archivist whose clients include the United States Golf Association, Columbia University/The Pulitzer Prizes and he continues to work for the New York Times print edition as a freelance photo editor.

For the past six years, Lopez has been allowed into the rooms at Columbia University in New York city to photograph the process of how the Pulitzer Prizes are judged and selected. He is the first photographer ever granted this access.

He served as the Director of Photography for the New York Times Student Journalism Institute and continues to mentor several of his students that have gone on to successful careers in photojournalism.

He lives in Tarrytown, N.Y. with his wife, Caitlin Kelly, author of two non-fiction books, and a award winning freelance journalist who writes for national and foreign publications.

Sheri Gibson is a seasoned photojournalist and non-linear editor known as a creative storyteller maximizing video and sound. She has been a television news photographer, Avid editor, field producer, story producer, and live remote coordinator responsible for covering national stories for NBC affiliates, NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, MSNBC, and CNBC, and The Weather Channel.

She is an experienced editor who edits and create graphics on Avid Media Composer and is also extremely knowledgeable in live shots and interviews, news conferences, mix zones, run and guns and anything happening on Capitol Hill and the White House. She loves editing and shooting in all aspects of media production and sports such as world news, politics, NFL football games, NBA basketball games, all Olympic events.

She has been a part of network production teams covering inaugurations, Pope Francis’ United States visit, the Iowa Caucus, the New Hampshire Primary, the Republican National Convention, and the Democratic National Convention and South Carolina primaries. She is a proud U.S Army veteran.

Eric O’Connor has over fifteen years of experience in film and video production as a cameraman, editor, and producer. His work on socially progressive documentaries and covering news stories for various outlets has led him on travels throughout the world, and across the United States.
He has worked with the PBS NewsHour, Frontline, BBC, ABC, Discovery Channel, A&E, the History Channel, as well as with numerous production companies, and collaborated on projects for the United Nations, the Global Fund, and various NGOs. Eric currently lives in New York City.

Keith Whelan comes from the wonderful island of Newfoundland and he has recently retired from CBC and now works as a trainer and a photographer and editor as a independent journalist.
He has been interested in the world of TV and video since his university years. The university in St. John’s had its own educational television station (those were the days!) and I worked there, learning to be a film editor.
After a few years he moved to our public broadcaster, CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) in 1976 as a film editor and never looked back.
He has shot news and current affairs all over the world and worked as a documentary shooter, including shooting a documentary for PBS some 40 years ago.
His work has won awards including a CSC (Canadian Society of Cinematographers) award for a shoot on a warship in the Persian Gulf and also a Gemini award for work on a current affairs item investigating the death of several Canadians at a resort in Mexico.
He’s traveled the world for the last several years as the lighting director and live camera for the Specials Unit of the CBC.

Jayne Lukas is currently a senior producer and editor with Global News Canada.

From very humble beginnings as a teleprompter operator at WTSP-TV in Tampa/St. Petersburg to a nomadic career as an editor up and down the East Coast, Jayne settled down to a multi decade career in Washington D.C.

With stints in Boston as a sports producer to South Florida as a media trainer and then at ABC News in New York and Washington, she landed at WJLA-TV for several years as a political producer and editor. As the freelance world opened up in the late 90’s, Jayne dived in, working primarily for CBS News, CNN and Reuters along with a variety of independent agencies. She established a production company that produced American Quarter Horse competitions for national cable networks.

Jayne has had the privilege of working with journalists from many corners of the world, including Australia, Great Britain, Kuwait, Germany, Turkey, Taiwan, South Africa, India, Portugal and Canada. And covering Presidential campaigns, world summits, the United Nations, NASA launches, the NFL and Super Bowls, the Oscars, amongst other notable events have been highlights of her career.

“It goes without saying that the role of a free press has been under scrutiny for the past several years and never has the work of the legitimate news media been more crucial. I am honored to play a small part in recognizing the accomplishments of WHNPA journalists as a judge this year.”

Jeff McDonald is a 27-year veteran of broadcast news. As a photographer-editor, with CTV National News Parliamentary Bureau, based in Ottawa Canada, he has covered some of the most historical moments in Canada and around the world. He travels with the Prime Minister to cover international events, most recently the Pan-Asian and G20 summits.

Working in collaboration with award winning journalists, he has shot, produced, and edited various news stories as well as feature and lifestyle content. From capturing Bajan life on the sunny beaches of Barbados to documenting Canadian Military exercises in Resolute Bay, his journey reflects his dedication to storytelling.

Memorable moments in his career include experiencing our Nation’s First Official Day of National Reconciliation on the site of a mass unmarked grave and embedding himself in the Freedom Trucker Convoy that choked up the Parliamentary Precinct to gather some of the most up-close footage and information. Whether on a local or international stage, bearing witness to history and capturing it to share with others has always been Jeff’s idea of a good day.

Les Rose’s 38-year career in broadcast journalism included 22 years with CBS National News Network as a photojournalist and field producer. He spent seven years working with CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman on the series “Everybody Has a Story.”

Rose has been honored with a national Edward R. Murrow Award and five Emmy Awards.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida and a master’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Anna Rothschild is an award-winning video producer, journalist, and host. Previously, she led the video team at ABC News’s FiveThirtyEight. She was the science video host for The Washington Post, and also created, hosted, and animated the YouTube series “Gross Science” for NOVA and PBS Digital Studios.

Ed Ou is an award-winning visual journalist and documentary filmmaker. His work has been recognized with both Emmy and Peabody awards He started his career as a teenager, covering the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and the fall of the Islamic Courts in Mogadishu, Somalia, while he was studying in the Middle East. He first worked for Reuters and The Associated Press, covering a wide range of news stories in the region.

He also worked for The New York Times, covering East Africa and the Middle East during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. In addition, he covered the legacy of colonialism in Canada, the drug war in the Philippines, the rise of extremism in the United States, and the COVID-19 pandemic for NBC News.

He completed a feature documentary looking at the intersection of American policing and those living with mental illness.

Ou’s coverage of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots contributed to a Staff Public Service Pulitzer Prize for The Washington Post.

Kate Woodsome is a writer, director and producer, and her work has been recognized with a Pulitzer Prize, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and accolades from the White House News Press Photographers Association. Most recently with The Washington Post, Kate pioneered a mental health column and managed a short documentary film unit for Post Opinions.

She was part of the team that received the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and the Ben Bradlee Award for Courage in Journalism for coverage of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Kate previously ran a global current affairs program on Al Jazeera English and spent her early career as a radio and print reporter in Asia with the Voice of America and Cambodia Daily newspaper.

Nathan Howard is a freelance photojournalist based in Washington, D.C. frequently working for Getty Images, The Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg. He was previously a staff photographer at The Columbian in Southwest Washington, The Newport News-Times and The Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

His work is often focused on U.S. politics, the destructive impacts of climate change, and extremism in the American West.

Julia Nikhinson is a freelance photojournalist based in Washington, D.C. Growing up in Maryland, Julia studied government and politics at the University of Maryland, interning at The Hill in 2021 and at The Associated Press, based in New York, in 2022. After returning to Washington in 2023, Julia’s work mostly centers on politics, sports and local news.

Kent Nishimura is a photographer based in Washington, DC. Nishimura was born in Taiwan, immigrated to the United States, grew up in Hawaii. A graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Nishimura was most recently a staff photographer with the Los Angeles Times, covering Washington, and much of the Eastern Seaboard.

His work has been recognized by Pictures of the Year International, the National Headliner Awards, the White House News Photographers Assn. and the National Press Photographers Association among others.

Brian Hopkins began his television career in 1983, volunteering while in high school, with FCAC Ch. 10 in Northern Virginia and WNVC/WNVT Public Tv. Over several years, he completely immersed himself in public access television, including producing and production work. One show he produced, lasted for 30 years. Soon, he began interning with Media General Cable Ch. 8, in Fairfax, Va., quickly learning his way around a real (non-public access ) television studio. In 1987, WNVC/WNVT became Brian’s first full time television home, shooting news on Capitol Hill, as well as doing studio production work. From 1989-1991, Media General Cable Ch. 8, in Fairfax, Va., took Brian in fulltime, where he thrived doing studio production, while spending periodic weekends shooting local spot news. This is where he first was bitten by the spot news bug. In 1991, Newchannel 8, which took over the Ch. 8 frequency, hired Brian as a production assistant. There he slowly made the transition to electronic news gathering and, by the time he left in 1996, was a full time photojournalist. CONUS Communications hired Brian to shoot news, covering Congress from 1996-1998. And finally, in December of 1998, starting as a freelance videographer, Brian was hired as a fulltime shooter/editor, just 5 months later, for WJLA-ABC 7, where he has been, ever since. Brian has won 5 local Emmys, plus received a number of additional nominations. With his reporter, he has won a Murrow award, an AP award, and has secured numerous first, second, third and honorable mention awards with the White House News Photographer Association. First place winnings earned Brian 5 trips to the Oval Office. When he gets the chance, Brian enjoys teaching and answering questions from youth who are interested in a career in television. Several times he’s volunteered for a program called, ”Facetime with the Pros”, a day for interested youth to attend lectures, get hands-on experiences with real broadcast equipment, and have face-to-face time with broadcast professionals, such as he, from around the DC area. Brian has also received numerous thank you cards from WJLA interns, whom he had taken under his wing, during their stay. Brian says he has the “very best career”. Even when off the clock, he “sees life thru a camera lens”. Always picturing the best camera angle, where ever he goes. Even when Brian’s traveling on vacation, or as he begins the weekend, he looks forward to what the next work day will bring and to what adventures he will find.

Lance Ing is an award-winning Photojournalist/Editor/Producer at WRC NBC 4 DC with more than 25 years of experience working General news, Special Projects and Investigative news and both Winter/Summer Olympics. He’s worked from coast to coast covering stories with the goal of making them both memorable and unique. “I’m committed to telling compelling stories which have an impact and can make a difference in someone’s life. I believe quality photojournalism, teamwork and good storytelling are crucial to establishing a connection with viewers.”

Lance is the Consumer/I-Team Photojournalist at WRC NBC 4 DC. He helped launched Sinclair Broadcasting’s Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson, prior to that, he worked for WTTG, USA TODAY LIVE, KATU, WZZM and KTVN. During his career he’s been fortunate to be honored with many local, regional, and national awards, including EMMYs, Murrow’s, AP Awards, NPPA Region 4 Photographer of the Year, WHNPA Photographer and Editor of the Year, and Michigan Photographer of the Year. “It’s an honor to be able to tell the kind of stories that can empower and touch the heart. I’m committed to telling compelling stories which have an impact and can make a difference in someone’s life.”

Joann Sierra is an award-winning bilingual editor/producer with over 30 years of experience in visual storytelling. She is also a motion graphics animator using the Adobe Creative Suite. Currently a producer/editor with ABC News in the DC Bureau, Joann worked at CNN for over 27 years, including being a founding member of CNN en Español. She has also worked with Univision and Austrian Television.

Joann has been a collaborator in a long list of award-winning projects at CNN; and has produced, shot, and edited engaging investigative and feature stories, documentaries, dynamic promos, podcasts, show opens, and creative marketing videos for promotional campaigns.

Her work has been recognized with numerous awards from the White House News Photographers Association and the National Press Photographers Association. She has been nominated for an Emmy and has also been recognized with four team Peabody Awards, a team DuPont Award, two team Emmys, and a team Murrow Award for CNN’s news coverage.
Born in Pennsylvania, she grew up in Lima, Peru, and is fluent in English and Spanish. A graduate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, she was honored with the Distinguished Alumna Award in 2020.