The judges and committee members of the 2020 National Press Photographers Association Best of Photojournalism competition pose as judging gets underway at the University of Georgia’s Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication on Friday, February 28, 2020. Photo by Kyser Lough

2020 NPPA Best of Photojournalism judging begins

The 133 first-round Best of Photojournalism judges finished their work and the chairs for each division of BOP have assigned a minimum qualifying score for the final round. This narrows down categories with massive numbers of entries to a more manageable number for our final-round judges. In keeping with our educational mandate, this process allows the final round, on-site judges to spend time in deep discussions about the best entries and eventual award winners.

Final-round BOP judging opened Friday, February 28 through Sunday, March 1, at The Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

Twenty-two judges spread over five divisions — Still Photojournalism; Video Photojournalism; Video Editing; Picture Editing; and Online Video, Presentation and Innovation — will concurrently judge thousands of entries in over 100 categories. Because the judging will happen simultaneously, all the final round judging will be recorded and compiled, and the videos will be accessible through the NPPA website beginning at 8 a.m. (EST) on March 17.

Official results for all categories will be published on the NPPA website (nppa.org) at Noon (EST) on Tuesday, March 3. The only exceptions are Station of the Year, Editor of the Year, NPPA Photojournalism Award for Reporting, and the Ernie Crisp Photographer of the Year. Those results will be announced at the Southeast Storytelling Workshop/NPPA Video Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 20-21. The Still Photojournalism, Picture Editing and Online Awards will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 18-19.

Mark Johnson, the UGA liaison, has gathered 50 undergrad and graduate students, and three NPPA Student Chapter members from across the east coast, to support the judging over the weekend.

Best of Photojournalism 2020 is supported and sponsored by Sony Electronics

The University of Georgia, Athens, hosts the BOP competition and is the NPPA headquarters.

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Here are the judging panels:

Still Photojournalism Judges - from left, Ryan Christopher Jones; Kevin Martin, division chair; Rob Carr; Chloe Coleman; Marie D. De Jesús. Bernadette Tuazon, not pictured. | Photo by Mark E. Johnson, mejphoto.com

Video Photojournalism Division Judges: From front left, Jane Helmke; Brett Akagi, division chair; Twanda Scott Sambou. Back row, Darren Durlach; Steve Flood | Photo by Mark E. Johnson, mejphoto.com

Online Video, Presentation and Innovation Division Judges: From front left, AJ Chavar, division chair; Nyier Abdou; Emily Kassie; Swikar Patel. Back row, Shane O’Neill, Eric Seals; Quynhang Do | Photo by Mark E. Johnson, mejphoto.com

Picture Editing Division Judges: From front left, Boyzell Hosey; Melanie Maxwell; Kyndell Harkness, division chair; Sammy Jo Hester. Back row, Mike Stewart; Dudley Brooks | Photo by Mark E. Johnson, mejphoto.com

Video Editing Division Judges: From left, Ray Arzate; Jaleesa Irizarry; Shawn Montano, division chair Photo by Mark E. Johnson, mejphoto.com |

Related links:

A huge thanks to first-round judges

2020 NPPA Best of Photojournalism Prizes and Awards

The 2020 BOP judges and bios

Nashville and Atlanta will host the National Press Photographers Association’s two premier awards events in 2020, NPPA announced