"Primetime" by Douglas Texter

This story is incredibly well executed both from a plot and character development standpoint. Alex Davis is a time-traveling reporter--putting his personal safety at risk to get the better cinematic shot. The opening scene has him pushing the time limit in order to get the best moment of a soldier's death. His boss is livid.

But someone higher up appreciates what Alex has done, so he gets promoted over his boss. Alex and his rival, Will, are up for different promotions--producer or reporter. Texter does a spot-on job with the tension, milking it. Again, later, Texter has Alex get caught by a bystander after the bomb hit Hiroshima, so that they have to decide whether to let Alex die in that era rather than mess up history.

SPOILER: But Alex calls in a favor, and he lives... only to be made a spectacle much as he's made a spectacle of others. The character's epiphany is overt but feels reasonable given the type of introspective character he's supplied.

• Writers of the Future, 23