Meet the video winners.

Last Saturday at 10 in the morning, the three Kunkel judges met online for nearly an hour to argue who should take first place in the categories of News Video/Streaming and Feature Video/Streaming.

See the winners here.

Why the weekend debate? As one judge put it, the problem was this: “Pieces that commit problematic instances of journalism inside of what is otherwise really good material.”

In other words, several finalists had as many highlights as lowlights. But the best ones were damn good.

So what separated first place from third? Here’s an example.

The third-place features winner was DA- Psychofrauds: A DoubleFine Mess #FigOff. What kept it from the top spot, according to one judge…

JOBS Act, SEC filings, flow charts, and video games. Didn’t see that coming. This is better-sourced, better-argued, and better-visualized than a lot of business stories I’ve seen. What’s missing is the context that DoubleFine is far from unique in operating like this. That doesn’t de-legitimize the story at all, but it is important to note. Also not impressed with “Ponzi scheme???” and “frauds” – I’m not cool with insinuating things there isn’t clear evidence for. I want to laud the intense effort, but this is why journalists interview experts.

So what do the winners get? An old-fashioned paper certificate they can hang on their wall, a Kunkel Award badge they can place on their website, and the satisfaction of a job well done. Maybe someday, if the Kunkels survive, also cash.

Next week: The writing winners.

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