Best Digital Storytelling Package, News
First - The Washington Post: "The unending storm"
Second - The Washington Post: "One construction crew’s desperate fight to save the Palisades"
Award of Excellence - The Washington Post: "Three couples and their IVF hopes, jolted by Alabama’s court ruling"
There was no third place award given in 2025.
Best Digital Storytelling Package, Feature
First - The Washington Post: "Why you just might fall in love with moths"
Award of Excellence - The Washington Post: "A means of escape"
Text: Hau Chu
Design: Audrey Valbuena
Best Digital Storytelling Package, In-depth
First - The Washington Post: "The ‘perfect’ predator: How a police chief groomed a Texas town"
Second - The Washington Post: "Tesla worker killed in fiery crash may be first ‘Full Self-Driving’ fatality"
Third - The Washington Post: "Walking the Line: Chinese migration surge tests President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping"
Social/Mobile, News
First - The Washington Post: "The Assassination Attempt Of Donald Trump"
Second - The Washington Post: "Palisades Fire jumps containment line"
Third - CNN: "“We will not have food:” South Dakota farmer is skeptical of mass deportations"
Social/Mobile, Feature
First - CNN: "CNN Exclusive: This pig could save your life"
Award of Excellence - The Washington Post: "Murderball:' The full-contact Paralympic sport to watch"
2025 Digital Storytelling Contest Judges
Soo-Jeong Kang is an award-winning visual innovator with over 20 years of experience in digital media, photography, video, and immersive storytelling. As Vice President and Head of Visuals & Immersive Video at National Geographic, she led cross-functional teams to produce groundbreaking content that blends cutting-edge technology with powerful narratives.
Previously, she served as the Executive Director of Programming at The New Yorker, where she founded the critically acclaimed The New Yorker Documentary. This series earned seven Academy Award nominations. Her groundbreaking work on “Reeducated,” a virtual reality documentary that takes viewers inside Xinjiang’s “reëducation” camps through the harrowing recollections of three men, received both an Emmy and a Peabody Award.
Soo-Jeong’s career includes a distinguished 15-year tenure as a photography editor and executive video producer at The New York Times. Her contributions included developing award-winning documentaries and innovative video series, including “Vanishing Mind,” which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for photography.
Lauren Schneiderman is a multi-Emmy award-winning filmmaker and journalist, currently working as a Video Producer at The Philadelphia Inquirer. At the Inquirer, Lauren has created both short and long-form documentaries on a variety of topics. She also teaches videojournalism at Temple University’s Klein College of Media and Communication.
She has a MA in New Media Photojournalism from the Corcoran College of Art + Design, a BA in Women’s Studies and International Relations from Goucher College, and a certificate in Documentary Studies from the SALT Institute in Portland, Maine.
Mia Tramz is a two-time Emmy-winning immersive experience producer, specializing in immersive experiences and visual storytelling. In 2020, she was named one of AdWeek’s Creative 100. Previously TIME’s Editorial Director of Enterprise and Immersive Experiences,
Mia oversaw enterprise and immersive content for the brand, including the launch of the TIME Immersive AR app and the development and launch of The March, a virtual reality exhibit that allows visitors to join the 1963 March on Washington and witness first-hand Dr. King delivering his iconic ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
In 2016 she led the launch of Time Inc’s company-wide immersive storytelling brand, LIFE VR, which included executive producing the Emmy-winning VR-docuseries Capturing Everest for Sports Illustrated. In 2020, Mia left her position at TIME to pursue personal projects as well as a career in conservation and agriculture.
She has worked for the Green Mountain Club, the National Parks Service, and is currently the Lead Tractor Operator at Tributary Farm in High Falls, NY. Mia now splits her time between farming and developing independent visual projects.
