Photography Categories
Top Honors
Video Photographer of the Year - Ben Martin, Sky News
Breaking News
First Place - Ben Martin, Channel 4 News - ITN
Second Place - Kimi Fleming, WJLA
Third Place - Jeremy Tobias Moorhead, CNN
General News
First Place - Ben Martin, Channel 4 News - ITN
Second Place - Michael Herd , Sky News
Third Place - Brian Hopkins, WJLA ABC-7
Day Feature
First Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
Second Place - Ed Young, Sky News
Third Place - Andrew Inches, WJLA-TV
Award of Excellence - Ben Martin, Channel 4 News - ITN
News Feature
First Place - Ben Martin, Channel 4 News - ITN
Second Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
Third Place - Kimi Fleming, WJLA
Award of Excellence - Ed Young, Sky News
Feature
First Place - Ben Martin, Channel 4 News - ITN
Second Place - Andrew Inches, WJLA-TV
Third Place - Cameron Schwarz, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Award of Excellence - Ed Young, Sky News
News Special Reports/Series
First Place - Ed Young, Sky News
Second Place - Andrew Smith, CNN
Third Place - Cameron Schwarz, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Magazine or Documentary Feature
First Place - Cameron Schwarz, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Second Place - Ben Martin , Channel 4 News - ITN
Third Place - Eric Courtney & Peter Stolz, CGTN America
Award of Excellence - Eric Courtney , CGTN America
Sports
First Place - Andrew Inches, WJLA-TV
Second Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
Third Place - Ambrose Vurnis, NBC Washington
Award of Excellence - Brian Hopkins, WJLA-ABC 7
Political/Campaign
First Place - Ben Martin, Channel 4 News - ITN
Second Place - Ed Young, Sky News
Third Place - Cameron Schwarz, Australian Broadcasting Company
White House/Presidential
First Place - Ben Martin, Channel 4 News - ITN
Second Place - Jeremy Moorhead, CNN
Lighting
First Place - Christopher Albert, Independent
Second Place - Kuba Wuls, NBC News
Third Place - Maxine Collins, N/A
Award of Excellence - John Bena, Nova Digital Studios
Audio
First Place - Ben Martin, Channel 4 News ITN
Second Place - Brian Hopkins, WJLA ABC-7
Third Place - Andrew Inches, WJLA-TV
Award of Excellence - Lance Ing, WRC NBC 4
International
First Place - Eric Courtney, CGTN America
Conflict/Disaster Coverage
There were no awards given in this category in 2025.
Raw Footage/Wire Service
First Place - Kuba Wuls, NBC News
Second Place - Doug Wilkes, WTTG-TV
Third Place - BJ Forte, NBC4
Solo Video Photojournalist - Breaking News
There were no awards given in this category in 2025.
Solo Video Photojournalist - Breaking News & Feature
First Place - Reshma Kirpalani, The Washington Post
Second Place - Ed Young, Sky News
Third Place - Maxine Collins, BBC
Award of Excellence - Michael Herd, Sky News
Inaugural
First Place - Maxine Collins, BBC
Editing Categories
Top Honors
Video Editor of the Year - Chris Shlemon, ITN
Breaking News
First Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
Second Place - Chris Shlemon, ITN
Third Place - Ed Young, Sky News
Award of Excellence - Stuart Cohen, PBS Newshour
General News
First Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
Second Place - Kimi Fleming, WJLA-TV ABC 7
Third Place - Stuart Cohen, PBS Newshour
Award of Excellence - Andrew Inches, WJLA-TV ABC 7
Day Feature
First Place - Chris Shlemon, ITN
Second Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
Third Place - BJ Forte, WRC-TV NBC 4
Award of Excellence - Michael Judge, NBC News
News Feature
First Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
Second Place - Chris Shlemon, ITN
Third Place - Ed Young, Sky News
Award of Excellence - Kimi Fleming, WJLA-TV ABC 7
Editing Short Form
First Place - Chris Shlemon, ITN
Second Place - Kamram Taherimoghaddam, CGTN America
Third Place - Lance Ing, WRC-TV NBC 4
Award of Excellence - Peter Stolz, CGTN America
Award of Excellence - Andrew Inches, WJLA-TV ABC 7
Editing Long Form
First Place - Ed Young, Sky News
Second Place - Joann Sierra, ABC News
Third Place - Stuart Cohen, PBS Newshour
Award of Excellence - Charles McDonald, Independent/PBS Newshour
Magazine Feature
First Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
Second Place - Ed Young, Sky News
Third Place - Stuart Cohen, PBS Newshour
Award of Excellence - Kamran Taherimoghaddam, CGTN America
Documentary
There were no awards given in this category in 2025.
Sports
First Place - Victoria Fleisher, CNN
Second Place - Ambrose Vurnis, WRC-TV NBC 4
Third Place - Andrew Inches, WJLA-TV ABC 7
Award of Excellence - Stuart Cohen, PBS Newshour
Award of Excellence - Kendall Griggs, WJLA-TV ABC 7
Political/Campaign
First Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
Second Place - Ed Young, Sky News
Third Place - Chris Shlemon, ITN
White House/Presidential
First Place - Ed Young, Sky News
Second Place - Chris Shlemon, ITN
Third Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
Video Essay Editing
First Place - Chris Shlemon, ITN
Second Place - Andrew Smith, CNN
Third Place - Lance Ing, WRC-TV NBC-4
Award of Excellence - Brian Hopkins, WJLA-TV-ABC 7
Award of Excellence - Kimi Fleming, WJLA-TV-ABC 7
Audio
First Place - Stuart Cohen, PBS Newshour
Second Place - Chris Shelmon, ITN
Third Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
Award of Excellence - Kimi Fleming, WJLA-TV ABC7
Award of Excellence - Ed Young, Sky News
Promotional
First Place - Kamran Taherimoghaddam, CGTN America
Second Place - McKenna Ewen, CNN
Third Place - Michael Judge, NBC News
Award of Excellence - Jeremy Moorhead, CNN
Inaugural
First Place - Michael Herd, Sky News
2025 Video Photography Judges
Charles Anderson is a television production technician with over 40 years of experience working for network news organizations including Fox News Channel, NBC, CNN, and others.
A native Washingtonian and a graduate of American University’s School of Communication, Anderson has held multifaceted production positions at WETA for the past 19 years, including roles as a studio/field lighting director, studio/field camera operator, robotics camera operator, jib operator, camera gimbal operator, and more. In addition to his technical expertise, he is a jazz enthusiast and a saxophonist.
Bob Gould is an award-winning broadcast journalist and recent inductee of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. With nearly 35 years in the industry, starting in local TV news, he is currently in his 18th year teaching visual storytelling and broadcasting at the MSU School of Journalism.
He began his career in 1990 as a TV news photojournalist at WILX-TV in Lansing, later moving to WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids, becoming the Chief Photojournalist there in 1995.
Bob’s accolades include over 40 awards from the NPPA (National Press Photographers Association), the MAB (Michigan Association of Broadcasters), and Michigan Associated Press, such as “Best Individual Photojournalism” in 1998 and 2006. He has received 8 regional Emmy nominations and 4 Emmy awards, including a recent one for his documentary on Hurricane Maria, the category 5 storm that ravaged Puerto Rico. A portion of that documentary won a “Best of Competition Award” from the Broadcast Education Association’s annual Festival of Media Arts Competition.
In 2022, Bob received the Edward L. Bliss Award for Distinguished Broadcast Journalism Education from the Association of Educators in Journalism and Mass Communication. In 2017, he earned the NPPA’s “Robin F. Garland Outstanding Educator” award. He is also a member of the Emmy Silver Circle, recognizing his 25 years in the broadcast industry.
His students have won hundreds of state, regional, and national awards, including a 6th consecutive Station-of-the-Year award from the MAB.
Bob served a 4-year term as President of the Michigan Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and has been active with the Michigan Association of Broadcasters as a Foundation Board member and honorary member for many years. He is currently the Video Chair for the NPPA’s prestigious Best of Photojournalism National Contest and served as NPPA President in 2006.
Bob celebrates 31 years of marriage to Susan, with two children, Ilene, 26, and Isaac, 21, both now working in television news in Michigan.
Kerry Meyer started his professional photography career in Baltimore, in the fall of 1978, joining WMAR-TV2 as a film cameraman shooting local news. We had moved down from NYC to Maryland so my wife could take a job in Washington.
I had always been interested in photography and purchased several magazine subscription for several years where I learned the basics in still cameras, exposure, composition and lighting. This led me to Columbia University in NYC where I studied for an MFA in Film. Of course, there were no film cameraman jobs available in New York so that’s how we decided to go South to Maryland.
I stayed with the 16mm film department for 2 years and then in 1980 WMAR shut down that division. I was asked to stay with the ENG group. It was much easier to shoot with an ENG camera than with a film camera.
From there I moved to MetroMedia Channel 5 TV in Washington DC to shoot national news stories for their new daily national evening news broadcast. Unfortunately, this only lasted for about 6 months. I needed a new job but none were available immediately, so I tried freelancing. I got lucky and landed some work with ITN-TV. While doing this work, I got to know more and more people in DC and someone mentioned Professional Video Services (PVS) was looking for cameramen. In mid 1983 they offered me a full-time job.
This lea to me working with the second correspondent for BBC almost daily. The BBC Washington bureau covered events in North & South America which meant that we got to travel & cover the major news stories of the day. It also meant that we covered Congress and the White House. This BBC relationship continued for almost 20 years.
Around 2000 I decided to not be a full-time cameraman for BBC. They wanted to go 1 man band & I had always had the luxury of having a sound person so I could just focus on my photography. This change threw me into the mix of working with many different clients and keeping a sound person. I worked for many other foreign clients, shot commercials, documentaries and network shows.
Then, in 2004 after PVS had changed hands several times earlier, the present owner closed the business. I decided to go freelance once again except this time I started my own production company. I named it Meyer Video Productions and bought my own camera, sound and lighting equipment. My wife continued to be my soundwoman. We had been a camera team for almost 20 years. I contacted all the people I used to work for and started to work with them again. My broadcast clients included: BBC, NHK, ARD, ZDF, CBC, TV Tokyo, Korean TV, Reuters, APTV and Bloomberg to name a few. This too was a good life for 16 years but in March of 2020 and with COVID beginning I decided this was my time to retire.
2025 Video Editing Judges
Robert Ferrier is a three-time Emmy Award-winning, non-fiction content creator for major worldwide broadcast networks, cable networks, international organizations and companies. Robert specializes in using compelling storytelling to drive ratings, deliver important messages, or to communicate an organization’s mission.
Ferrier began collaborating with Maryland Public Television in 2009 as a freelance contract writer, producer, director, and editor for the original series Outdoors Maryland, earning a regional Emmy in 2018. He also produced the 2019 special “Blue Ribbon River” highlighting the beauty and diversity of the Gunpowder watershed outside Baltimore.
In 2012, Ferrier produced and directed MPT’s Emmy® Award-winning documentary Heart of the Civil War.
In April 2022, Ferrier joined MPT’s Content Division as series producer for Maryland Farm & Harvest. Among other duties, Mr. Ferrier’s primary responsibilities include overseeing production, managing a team of producers, and writing and editing scripts as the series enters its 13th season.
With more than 30 years of national TV production experience, he has worked with organizations such as National Geographic, Smithsonian Channel, History Channel, Food Network, and PBS. From 1997-2005, he produced hundreds of hours of primetime television content as staff supervising producer, producer, director, and editor for Discovery Communications.
Over his career, Ferrier has received multiple Emmy nominations, winning four Emmy Awards, a New York Festivals® TV & Film Awards Gold World Medal, two silver and two bronze Telly Awards, a Special Jury Award from the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival, and three CINE Golden Eagles.
In 2018, he was the recipient of the Johns Hopkins University/Saul Zaentz Filmmaking Fellowship.
Mr. Ferrier resides in Severna Park with his wife and their dog, Brody.
Derek Thacker is based in Ottawa where he recently retired from a 37-year career with CTV National News Parliamentary Bureau. He wore two hats at the Ottawa Bureau – first as a Director & Production Editor for CTV Question Period – currently in its 58th year, Canada’s longest running political television program, and secondly as a director for other live studio interview shows such as Power Play, running on CTV NewsChannel.
In addition to studio control rooms, he was assigned to numerous live remotes including Federal Cabinet investitures, Federal Election Night Leaders’ Pools, November 11 Remembrance Day pool coverage, and Canada Day Noon Show pool coverage.
Alongside directing at the Ottawa Bureau, he was Senior Editor for CTV National News – editing daily news stories and numerous special event packages, multicam interviews, and Show Opens incorporating 2D & 3D animated graphics.
Remaining passionate about all aspects of video production, he is pursuing freelance editing in Ottawa and has created his own production company to explore this exciting next chapter.
Lauren Werner graduated from American University with a double major in Graphic Design & Broadcast Communications and was hired as a temporary production assistant at Channel 9, the local CBS affiliate in Washington.
I spent 30 years in TV news, primarily as a media editor for WUSA-TV. Although I began my career as a PA, I soon realized I wanted more of a creative position. I knew I didn’t want to be a reporter so what else could I do to use my skills from my schooling and hobby in photography, and my passion for creativity? Aha! It was a no brainer! I gravitated toward storytelling with video. The station was using 3/4″ videotape editing machines while I was in training, but by the time I retired, I was fully proficient on AVID, the latest in digital editing.
Over the years, I had the opportunity to explore various aspects of broadcasting—producing live programming, scriptwriting, talent coordinator, archivist, scouting live locations, and even dabbling in promotions.
I was lucky to be trained on a wide range of technical equipment, including telemation, prompter, studio cameras, the control room audio board, bringing in microwave signals, and tape playback systems. But editing and videography was where I truly found my passions. Breaking news and live shots were especially thrilling – I thrived on the adrenaline of tight deadlines. Spot news editing became my specialty, as I loved the challenge of visually telling a story in as little as 15 seconds while perfectly timing the words and the pictures.
I earned a reputation for being accurate, fast, and reliable, often as the go-to editor to hit deadlines with the best possible footage. Along the way, I was honored with awards for editing several breaking news stories.
Two of the most unforgettable events I worked on were the DC snipers and the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon. The terror attacks were also personal as my brother worked in the Pentagon and my sister lived in Manhattan.
A native Washingtonian, I grew up watching the news—Nancy Dickerson was the first anchor I remember seeing. It’s no wonder I developed a lifelong love for storytelling and capturing history as it unfolded.