2012 Election — First Place. Vice President Joe Biden's talks to customers during a stop at Cruisers Diner, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012, in Seaman, Ohio. Photo by Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press

2012 Chris Hondros International News — First Place (this photo is part of a series). In this Friday, Sept 7, 2012 photo, Two rebel Free Syrian Army soldiers run after attacking a Syrian Army tank during fighting in the Izaa district in Aleppo, Syria. Photo by Manu Brabo / Associated Press

2012 Portrait — 1st Place. Natalia Gonzales, a 15-year-old crack user, poses for a portrait in an area known as "Crackland" in the Manguinhos slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo by Felipe Dana/Associated Press

2012 Sports Feature — 1st Place. Caleb Sun (middle right) waits backstage with other competitors before the light middleweight bodybuilding division of the Arnold Amateur at Veterans Memorial Auditorium during the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio. Photo by Bryan Thomas/Freelance

2012 Pictorial — 1st Place. Ultra Orthodox Jews attend Siyum Ha√åShas, a celebration marking the completion of the learning cycle of the Babylonian Talmud, a collection of oral Jewish laws and traditions, at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem. Photo by Oded Balilty/Associated Press

2012 Spot News — First Place. Syrian man cries while holding the body of his son near Dar El Shifa hospital in Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012. Photo by Manu Brabo/Associated Press

2012 Pictorial — Honorable Mention. Water from a leaky fire hose rains down on neighborhood residents as they attempt to put out a fire that had already burned dozens of homes, in the New Building slum neighborhood in central Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press

2012 Sports Action — First Place. North Carolina forward John Henson tries to block a shot by Michigan State center Adreian Payne at the Carrier Classic basketball game aboard the USS Carl Vinson in Coronado, CA. Photo by Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

2012 Feature — 1st Place. Administrative segregation prisoners take part in a group therapy session at San Quentin state prison, California, June 8, 2012. Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

2012 Olympic — 1st Place. U.S. gymnast Gabrielle Douglas performs on the balance beam during the artistic gymnastics women's individual all-around competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012, in London. Photo by Gregory Bull/The Associated Press