1. "Jason rifled through his backpack" - This is a complete sentence. It has a subject (Jason) and a verb (rifled).
2. "Looking for the article" - This is a fragment because it lacks a subject. We don't know who or what is looking.
3. "Getting it to Daily Learner News office before noon deadline" - This is a fragment because it lacks a verb. We need a verb like "needed" or "had to" to make it a complete sentence.
4. "That was essential" - This is a complete sentence. It has a subject (That) and a verb (was).
5. "He had worked" - This is a fragment. It has a subject (He) and a verb (worked) but lacks a complete thought. It needs to be connected to something else like, "He had worked hard to get this story."
Therefore, there are 3 fragments in the paragraph.