2nd Place :: Division A

The McDonagh Family

Glenbrook South

Feature Story

Entry Description

This news package highlights a family that can teach all of us a little bit about love. The McDonagh family had a lot of love to give, with there being 6 family members. They had so much that they chose to share it with two little boys. Tommy and Ryan were adopted from Guatemala as babies and now the family of 6 is a family of 8.

Judge 1

Positives: Great writing / reporting. Nice use of b-roll.

Improvements: More video with nat sound of family interacting.

Judge 2

Positives: Beautiful camera work. You really feel like you are a fly on the wall in this families home. This piece was edited very well. Great use of graphics and transitions.

Improvements: There is something lost in the story here. When do you mention that these children are adopted? You say that something was missing. What was it? Even the bites don't support it. They keep referring it to as "it". What is it? You don't hear the word adoption until half-way through the story. How old were they when they were adopted? Where did they come from? How long have they been living as a family?

Judge 3

Positives: Good story telling. From the beginning there's a sense of interest and an emotional attachment. Good use of pictures and soundbytes. Fantastic interviews with quick bytes to keep the story going and the emotions high.

Improvements: There were a lot of family members to interview. If any problem with that, it's that we can't get too deep with any one person because of time constraints. It may be easier in the future to focus on one or two members of the family. For instance, the dad explained that the mom felt she was missing something even after having a handful of kids. It may have been better to have the mom talk about her feelings and then you could have eliminated the dad's bytes and simply shown him in pictures.