BISMARCK — Three students from LaMoure, North Dakota, won third place in a national C-SPAN documentary competition with a video about the nation's beef industry that highlighted North Dakota ranchers.
Rose Wendel, Makayla Jones and Molly Musland, students at LaMoure Public School, created a six-minute documentary for C-SPAN's 2022 StudentCam competition about how the federal government can help local beef producers with better antitrust policies.
The documentary competition received more than 1,400 entries from across the U.S., Morocco and South Korea. This year's documentary prompt asked students to address the question, "How does the federal government impact your life?"
The LaMoure students' documentary, titled "Vertically Challenged: Our Beef Industry and Their Struggle," detailed the difficulties that many local beef producers face because large companies control much of the market and have discretion over prices.
The students said in the documentary the federal government can assist local producers and ranchers by better enforcing antitrust laws to regulate the big corporations in the beef industry.
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"The winners showcased exceptional research and production values as they wove personal stories with historical or contemporary issues," said Craig McAndrew, director of C-SPAN education relations, in a statement. "These middle and high school students far exceeded our expectations, and we are elated to share their hard work with the country."
The three LaMoure students will receive a $750 prize.