Best Multimedia Project of the Year by Jacob Carah

I would like to start by agreeing. To elaborate, the story of a young mother of five going through Drug Court of Fayette County, Kentucky as presented by The Lexington Herald-Reader is compelling to me for three reasons. Reason one, the project had clean relatable audio in relation to the photographs taken of the subject throughout her subsequent treatment appeared seamless. Two, the use of black and white photographs had a very plain contrast to the information conveyed by the content that they displayed, this made me want to study each image as I heard the narrative. In essence the pictures act as a point of reference for the story line as well as milestones for Dawn Smith struggle with addiction. Lastly, I liked the selection of music for each chapter, while at times I am opposed to music used as a tool for setting and emotive purposes I found the music fitting for the images presented as well as for the piece as a whole. 

Recently it seems that multimedia presentations are the new glossy portal and template that news providers have found to drape over stories. Perhaps to make features and profiles more appealing or approachable for the public. Sites such as MediaStorm (in my opinion the pinnacle of the genre) take advantage of how audio and photo can work together in such way as to put the audience through every turn and element in a story's narrative. Most projects and presentations that I have seen are profiles or news features that can be told in a storybook seudo-theatre fashion. So by stating earlier that I agree, well I agree that the Lexington Herald-Reader and David Stephenson did a fine job of telling Dawn Smith's story, I found it compelling and can see why it received Best Multimedia Project.  The pictures captured the emotional events, set-backs and process that Smith went through during her treatment, while the audio complement each photo and vice versa.  For these reasons of approachability and style is why I love multimedia presentations, I think they communicate more effectively than just a print story or broadcast story.