Photography Categories
Top Honors
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Student Still Photographer of the Year - Allison Robbert, George Washington University
Second Place - Jordan Tovin, George Washington University
Video Categories
Top Honors
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Student Video Photographer of the Year - Aayas D Joshi, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Sports
No Awards Given
Broadcast News Storytelling
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First Place - Kaitlin Cambell, Syracuse University
Second Place - Alex Fairchild, Syracuse University
In-Depth Features and Documentary
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First Place - Jess Van, Syracuse University
Vertical Social Video
No Awards Given
2026 Student Still Photography Judges
Julia Demaree-Nikhinson is a photographer for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. She was previously based in New York.
Evelyn Hockstein is a senior staff photographer at Reuters based Washington, DC and past President of the Women Photojournalists of Washington. Evelyn has worked in more than 80 countries for news outlets including The Washington Post and The New York Times. Evelyn has won first prize in the World Press Photo and POYi, in 2022 she was part of the Washington Post team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public service and in 2024 she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Israel-Hamas war with her Reuters colleagues. She has previously won awards from POYi, NPPA Best of Photojournalism, and the Days Japan International Photojournalism award for her coverage of sexual assault of women in Darfur.
Stefani Reynolds is the politics and DC-area photo editor at Bloomberg News. Prior to joining Bloomberg as a photo editor, she worked as a photographer and photo editor at Agence France-Presse’s Washington bureau.
2026 Student Video Photography Judges
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.”
Nate Luna’s camera has taken him across the country and around the world over the past twelve years, from local news in small-town California to international news at one of America’s largest networks. He currently covers transportation out of ABC’s Washington DC Bureau. When he isn’t shooting or editing, he enjoys breaking (and fixing) his old car, barbecuing, brewing beer, playing with Legos, and being outside.
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.
