Commentary ( Print News/Online Class I - up to 1,000 )Back
Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Conifer HS - Website Entry Title: Muscle Match Goes Prude Entry Credit: Alyson Meyers
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Delta HS / Newspaper Entry Title: Colorado's road to representation gets challenged Entry Credit: Alex Burruss, Shelby Pride, Jasmin Saenz
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Aspen HS - Website Entry Title: The Homework Haul Entry Credit: Addy Christensen
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Eaton HS - newspaper Entry Title: The controversial Kite Runner Entry Credit: Eamon Shaw
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Manitou Springs HS - News Entry Title: MSSD14 needs a name change policy Entry Credit: Ethan Anderson
Competition Comment: Lots of great topics in this batch of entries. What separates the winners from the rest, however, is their focus on a central opinion, a call to action. The best pieces hit this core opinion several times throughout, always bringing supporting details and body paragraphs back to the main point. The rest usually fell short of this, burying one or two opinion sentences (in the whole of the article) in quotes and factual reporting.
While it is important to use facts and summary to show the issue, an opinion piece should always use these elements to drive home the point. And the conclusion should always be a reaffirmation of the point, a solution... something strong from the author that solidifies the call to action.
Finally, quotes can work, but they should really be expert quotes from people who are primary players in whatever issues are happening, not just people who have an opinion.
