ONPA 2026 Monthly Clip Contest Results
January – 1st place Story
Right-wing influencer Jake Lang clashes with counter-protesters during his demonstration in support of ICE outside the Federal Building in downtown Minneapolis. (Addison Annis / The Blade)
Results & Rules
January 2026 clip contest results
Spot News
1st – Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade, “Fire”
2nd – Sam Greene / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Vance”
3rd – Sam Greene / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Snow”
Judge’s comments: First place does a good job of showing the scale of the fire, the scene looks larger than life.
General News
1st – Bryant Billing / Dayton Daily News, “Dayton STEM”
2nd – Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade, “Splash”
3rd – Sam Greene / The Enquirer, “Mayor”
HM – Andrew Dolph / Akron Beacon Journal, “Ballet”
HM – Kurt Steiss / The Blade, “Auto Show”
Judge’s comments: First place, good layering and great job capturing that moment.
Feature
1st – Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade, “Sledders”
2nd – Sam Greene / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Dogs”
3rd – Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade, “Eagle”
HM – Sam Greene / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Trees”
HM – Kurt Steiss / The Blade, “Snow Storm”
Judge’s comments: First place captures great emotion and I really like the framing. Second place, great framing and a good moment. Third place, beautiful use of light. Honorable mentions, beautiful weather photos. Lots of strong entries in this category this month.
Sports Action
1st – Sam Greene / The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Slap”
2nd – Rebecca Benson / The Blade, “Puck”
3rd – Rebecca Benson / The Blade, “Hit”
HM – Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade, “Wrestling”
HM – Jeff Lange / Akron Beacon Journal, “Wagon Wheel”
Judge’s comments: First place, great moment and really good job capturing the expression on Burrow’s face.
Sports Feature
1st – Jeff Lange / Akron Beacon Journal, “PTC Wrestling”
2nd – Addison Annis / The Blade, “Celebrate”
3rd – Andrew Dolph / Akron Beacon Journal, “Winner”
HM – Rebecca Benson / The Blade, “Celebration”
Judge’s comments: First place, really good job capturing the feeling of victory and defeat within the same frame.
Portrait
1st – Andrew Dolph / Akron Beacon Journal, “Drugs in Prisons”
2nd – Addison Annis / The Blade, “Matt Hurd”
3rd – Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade, “Venessa Leonard”
HM – Addison Annis / The Blade, “Family”
Judge’s comments: First place, great layering, evicts a lot of emotion. Great lighting, too. Second place, also great layering. Third place, really good use of light.
Story/Essay
1st – Addison Annis / The Blade, “Minneapolis”
2nd – Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade, “Naturalization”
3rd – Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade, “Stilts”
HM – Kurt Steiss / The Blade, “Eagles”
Judge’s comments: First place, a lot of great shots. You did a great job capturing the intensity of the situation. Good job capturing not only the protest, but people’s daily lives living through ICE’s occupation of Minneapolis.
Judged by Jonathan Aguilar, Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
ONPA Monthly Still Clip Contest Rules
The ONPA monthly clip contest is now entered and judged online. Photos entered into the contest must have been published either in print, or online, on your school or newspaper’s website.
Entry preparation: Make sure all photos are cropped to 10 inches on the longest side at 200 dpi with a .jpg extension. Files should be approximately 1-2 megabytes in size.
File names must start with a two digit category code to designate the category – (01-07), followed by an underscore to give a name of the photo, followed by an underscore, and then the photographer’s three initials. For example: A sports action photo by John J. Smith should read: 04_fumble_jjs.jpg.
A picture story by John J. Smith would be named 07_kids01_jjs.jpg, 07_kids02_jjs.jpg, son and and so forth for stories containing multiple images.
Caption requirements: All photos must contain the original caption in the description or caption field using Photoshop or Photo Mechanic. Your byline should be entered in the author or photographer field. Your publication name or school attended (for student entries) should be entered in the credit field. The publication date is to be placed in the keywords field. Entries without proper content in each of these four fields will be considered incomplete and withdrawn from the contest. Photographers must remove their name and publication from the caption/description field since judges will be able to read this field while judging. That content is to be placed in the author and credit field.
Uploading: To upload files, use the uploader widget on the Clip Contest page on the ONPA website.
Entries will be accepted from the first of the month following publication through midnight on the 15th. After this deadline, the system will be closed until the first of the next month and no further entries will be accepted. Using the online upload tool, multiples can be submitted at one time without zipping by pressing shift or command and clicking on all the files you wish to enter for the month.
Entry Limits: Photographers are limited to nine entries per month. Should a photographer upload more than nine entries, all entries after the first nine will be disregarded. A story counts as one entry. All photos without a proper file name will be disregarded. Once a file is uploaded, it cannot be modified or removed. (Should you have an issue, please reach out to the clip chairs.)
Category Numbers & Definitions:
Spot news: (01) – A single picture of an unscheduled event for which no advanced planning was possible. Examples: res, accidents and natural disasters.
General news: (02) – A single picture of a scheduled political, social or cultural event for which advance planning was possible. An assigned and/or scheduled news event. Examples: Demonstrations, funerals, trials and promotional events.
Feature: (03) – A single human-interest photo.
Sports Action: (04) – A single picture that emphasizes action in competitive events, not practice or informal play.
Sports Feature: (05) – An unposed sports related photo. Sports related portraits should be entered in the portrait category. Examples: Participants or fans reacting to action on the field of play.
Portrait: (06) – A single picture of a person that reveals the essence of the subject’s character. This can be news, sports, or feature in content.
Story: (07) – A photo story, essay or sequence, of any subject matter.
Illustration: (08) – A single created picture, not to be a found situation or portrait. Intended to clarify or dramatize a preconceived idea. This would include illustrations depicting food, fashion, industrial or editorial topics. This category will be judged quarterly but clips must be entered in the month published.
ONPA uses the following structure for awarding points in the Monthly Clip Contest:
50 points for 1st place
40 points for 2nd place
30 points for 3rd place
10 points for HM
2 points just for entering
Questions concerning the contest can be directed to Jeremy Wadsworth or Rebecca Benson.
2025 Clip Contest Final Point Standings
1st – Jeremy Wadsworth, The Blade – 252
2nd – Sam Greene, Cincinnati Enquirer – 202
3rd – Addison Annis, The Blade – 142
4th – Rebecca Benson, The Blade – 112
5th – Andrew Dolph, Akron Beacon Journal -92
6th – Jeff Lange, Akron Beacon Journal – 62
7th – Bryant Billing, Dayton Daily News – 52
8th – Kurt Steiss, The Blade – 32
9th – Erik Schelkun, Elsestar Images – 2
Clip Photographers of the Year
Click on the year to view all results from that year