Pulitzer Photography Honorees on KobreGuide

Congratulations to all 94th annual Pulitzer Prizewinners in Journalism, announced today by Columbia University. The winner of the Feature Photography award, and the two finalists in that category, had previously been showcased on KobreGuide as stellar multimedia presentations .

Craig F. Walker of The Denver Post won the Pulitzer "for his intimate portrait of a teenager who joins the Army at the height of insurgent violence in Iraq, poignantly searching for meaning and manhood. "

See it here: Ian Fisher: American Soldier

Nominated as finalists in this category:

* Mary F. Calvert (my former student!) "for her courageous work published in The Washington Times that vividly documents how rapes, by the tens of thousands, have become a weapon of war in Congo."

See it here: Rape and Recovery in the Congo

* Robert Cohen of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch "for his sensitive portrayal of homeless suburban families camping in motels during the recession, often recording memorable emotional moments. "

See it here: Motel Manor: Suburban Homelessness

All three visual stories represent a significant investment of time, talent and resources by not only the visual journalists, but also the news organizations they worked for. As we originally reported on KobreGuide.com:

The Denver Post spent two years following Fisher on this journey from high school graduation through boot camp, deployment in Iraq and his eventual return home. Through a series of 8 videos, this exhaustive multimedia project chronicles Fisher’s life as it is shaped by his experiences of young adulthood.

The project intersperses still photographs and videos interviews with Fisher, his parents and Army colleagues, capturing his day-to-day experiences as a recruit, soldier, son and friend.

The project was published over three days and includes photo galleries, in-depth stories and a unique collection of multimedia extras including a glossary of military terms, snapshots through Humvee windows and messages from soldiers to their loved ones back home.

Well deserved kudos to all.

SEE ALSO: New York Times' Lens blog

KobreGuide's Top 25 for Oct. '09

Here are the top 25 most popular video stories on KobreGuide.com for the month of October 2009.

For the past couple months, we listed only recently published stories, since it seemed that these "best-seller lists" become self-prophetic -- by clicking on popular stories, it makes them seem even more popular. But then we found that the top of the list remained pretty much the same anyway, owing in part to the fact that many of these stories are linked from high-traffic Websites.

In any case, their mere presence on KobreGuide in the first place attests to their high quality, and that they merit your attention.

As always, they span an array of topics and themes, and originate from a broad spectrum of media outlets. Their tone ranges from comic to tragic.

To varying degrees, they all inform and entertain, and represent the cutting edge of visual aesthetics, high journalism standards, and good storytelling.

KobreGuide strives to showcase topical stories, but gravitates towards evergreen features, not news.

So if you missed any of these the first time around, they should all still feel fresh and not outdated. Now's your chance to catch them, and we hope you do.

1. Pit Bulls: Companions or Killers?

2. Bolivia's Women Wrestlers

3. Acid Attacks

4. Being a Black Man

5. Conjoined Twins (pictured)

6. The Sand Dancer

7. Dangerous Encounters with Brady Barr

8. Being Aron Ralston

9. Ana's Story

10. Turtle Man

11.Ian Fisher: American Soldier

12. Burned in the War

13. Living Galapagos

14. A Hendrix Experience in Hollywood

15. Hungry: Living with Prader-Willi Syndrome

16. Mending Broken Hearts

17. Talking to the Taliban

18. Zora Neale Hurston's Hometown Legacy

19. Train Jumping: A Desperate Journey

20. 85 and Still Kicking

21. Trapped: Mental Illness in America's Prisons

22. Weegee

23. A Place for Jani

24. The Girl in the Window

25. Prison Overcrowding

P.S. Here's a statistic we're happy to share. In the year since KobreGuide launched (in October 2008), our audience and page views have steadily increased 10 to 20% per month.

We've still got a ways to go to achieve the kind of traffic enjoyed by the major media institutions we showcase and champion, but we're enthused to know that the receptive audience for videojournalism that we originally targeted does in fact exist.

In fact, all signs point to nonfiction video stories becoming a bigger and more potent force in the near future, and we're proud to say that KobreGuide has been ahead of the curve in recognizing this. We'll hope you'll stay with us for the fascinating journey ahead.

KobreGuide's Top 10 Videos for Sept. '09

Here are the ten most popular video stories that were originally showcased on KobreGuide to the Web's Best Videojournalism during the month of September 2009.

They represent a broad array of topics, from fun to serious, from a wide variety of media outlets.

All are worth a repeat viewing. If you missed any of them, now's a second chance to see them.

* Death of a Marine

* The Amazing Skidboot

* Choosing Thomas

* Arab Christians: The Forgotten Faithful

* My Kidney, His Life

* Surviving the Death Race

* Ian Fisher: American Soldier

* A Day with a Tap Legend

* Fallout: The Legacy of Brookhaven Lab

* The Letter from Iwo Jima (pictured)