White House News Photographers Association Awards

The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media is proud to celebrate the incredible achievements of students and alumni who placed in the White House News Photographers Association’s ‘The Eyes of History®’ Contests. Their remarkable work in visual journalism disciplines has garnered multiple awards, showcasing their exceptional talent, dedication and impact in the field. Below is a list of these outstanding individuals whose visual storytelling continues to inspire and set the standard for excellence in journalism.

Students 

Top Honors 

• Student Video Photographer of the Year – Anna Connors ’24 and Aayas Joshi ’26 – The Last Wild Herd: Defending Yellowstone’s Buffalo
• Long Form Feature (Team): First Place – Anna Connors ’24 and Aayas Joshi ’26  – The Last Wild Herd: Defending Yellowstone’s Buffalo
• Student Still Photographer of the Year: Third Place – Anna Connors ’24 (photo credit for thumbnail)

Long Form Feature (Solo) 

• First Place – Maggie McIntyre ’25 – After the Flood
• Third Place – Max Feliu Merce ’25 – What The Mud Took

Alumni 

Digital Storytelling 

• First – The Washington Post: “The unending storm” – Sarah Kaplan, Brady Dennis ’00, Hannah Yoon, Julia Wall ’13 and Alice Li 
• Second – The Washington Post: “One construction crew’s desperate fight to save the Palisades” – Erin O’Connor, Jessica Koscielniak and Julia Wall ’13 
• Award of Excellence – The Washington Post: “Three couples and their IVF hopes, jolted by Alabama’s court ruling” – Directed, produced and edited by Drea Cornejo. Co-filmed with Whitney Shefte ’07. Senior produced by Neeti Upadhye. 

Best Digital Storytelling Package, In-depth 

• First – The Washington Post: “The ‘perfect’ predator: How a police chief groomed a Texas town” – Jenn Abelson, Alice Li, Jessica Contrera, Tucker Harris and Carolyn Van Houten ’14 
• Second – The Washington Post: “Tesla worker killed in fiery crash may be first ‘Full Self-Driving’ fatality” – Whitney Shefte ’07, Julia Wall ’13, Jessica Koscielniak, Trisha Thadani, Faiz Siddiqui, Rachel Lerman, Talia Trackim, Jake Crump, Karly Domb Sadof, Betty Chavarria, Monique Woo, Sarah Hashemi, Anne Kenderdine and Martha Murdock. 
• Third – The Washington Post: “Walking the Line: Chinese migration surge tests President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping” – Cate Cadell, Nick Miroff, Li Quang, Erin Patrick O’Connor, Steven Rich, Efrain Hernandez Jr., Debbi Wilgoren, Natalia Jimenez, Jessica Koscielniak and Madison Walls ’18 

Social/Mobile Feature 

• Award of Excellence – The Washington Post: “Murderball:’ The full-contact Paralympic sport to watch” – Hadley Green ’21 (M.A.)