2022-23 CSMA Best of Colorado

Commentary ( Print News/Online Class II - 1,000-1,800) Back

  • Place Name: First Place
    Contestant Name: Monarch HS / Newspaper
    Entry Title: Fast Fashion
    Entry Credit: Minh Anh Le
  • Place Name: Second Place
    Contestant Name: Arvada West HS / Newspaper
    Entry Title: Our Obsession with Appearance: The Issues with Glow Ups
    Entry Credit: Chloe Rios
  • Place Name: Third Place
    Contestant Name: Doherty High School - Newspaper
    Entry Title: The Big Picture of Texturism: How to Avoid Racist Comments About People’s Hair
    Entry Credit: Emily Williams
  • Place Name: Honorable Mention
    Contestant Name: Monarch HS / Website
    Entry Title: A Flame Apart
    Entry Credit: Maya VanVleet
  • Competition Comment: What separates the top entries 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. Sometimes, pieces have several opinions, and a piece can 'rant' more than persuade. Emotion is an important and useful tool, but the end goal should always be to get the reader to understand, and even agree with, your main point, and it is much more effective for this to happen with one well-developed opinion. Finally, the opinion needs to be meaningful. In the best pieces, many readers will not agree, and what the author is asking for is often difficult, and the writer is taking a risk, but one they feel is important.