2008 Illinois Associated Press Editors Association
News and Photo Contest Eligibility

News Contest Guidelines:

Categories and Judging Criteria:

The AP Editorial Excellence Contest assesses news value, reporting and writing. Judges are asked to weigh the enterprise required to gather information and the skill shown in writing the article(s), including creativity, clarity, organization and narrative flow. Judges are to award at least three places in each category.

Relatively greater weight will be given to reporting skills in the Investigative, Public Service and Enterprise categories. More weight is given to writing skill in such categories as columns and features. Judges will be an impartial panel of editors from out-of-state AP member newspapers.

Group or joint projects: When two or more newspapers share news gathering staff on a story, photo or project, those papers must enter the category covering their COMBINED daily average circulation. Stories, photos or joint projects produced by staff from more than one newspaper will be entered under the name of ONE member newspaper, under the combined circulation of all newspapers contributing staff to the project.

Divisions:

Categories:

Investigative: A story or stories that clearly demonstrate the newspaper s ability to obtain hard-to-get information, facts and pertinent detail and put them into compelling story form. Side letters explaining use of FOI requests or other such tools are encouraged. Limit of three entries per newspaper. A single entry is limited to no more than 10 stories, including sidebars.

Public Service: A story or stories that show the newspaper s ability to fulfill its public service role by providing information that helps readers make informed decisions or conclusions. Emphasis will be placed on evidence of public benefit. Limit of three entries per newspaper. A single entry is limited to no more than 10 stories, including sidebars and related editorials.

Enterprise: A non-deadline story or stories that are issue-oriented and pre-planned and which show creative initiative and originality in subject matter and approach. Limit of three entries per newspaper. A single entry is limited to no more than 10 stories, including sidebars and related editorials. Category is inclusive of all sections, including sports.

Deadline news: Spot coverage of a news event. Entry should include a notation of the time and date the event occurred and press time. Emphasis is placed on deadline reporting and how well the newspaper presents information in a short period of time. Limit of three entries per newspaper. A single entry is limited to one story with sidebars.

Best Newspaper Web Site: Judges will consider a newspaper’s primary Web site on the basis of quality and usefulness of design; local appeal including breadth of coverage and links to community resources; timeliness in a 24/7 environment; ease of navigation; multimedia presentation; interactivity; portability; synergy with print editions. Judges will be given member’s Web site URL and judging will be based on web sites as they appear on two 2008 dates to be determined by the judges. Entry is limited to the newspaper’s primary online site. Newspapers that, in effect, share zoned editions of a group Web site are limited to one entry from that site and it must be submitted in the highest print circulation category of the newspapers participating on that site.

Non-deadline news: For rewarding excellence in the reporting of news topics in a single story where deadlines were not a factor. Sidebars will be considered a part of the main story. Limit of three entries per newspaper.

Features: For a single story, series or package on a topic or person. Emphasis will be placed on subject matter, writing and originality. Limit of three entries per newspaper. If entry is a series or package, it is limited to no more than five stories including sidebars.

Columns: Commentary, personal columns, humor or critical reviews, other than sports. Emphasis is on the quality of writing. Limit of three entries per newspaper. An entry may consist of just one column, or as many as three columns. All columns in an entry must be by the same author.

General Excellence: Entries consist of complete newspapers published on random, non-consecutive weekdays. This year contest dates: Wednesday, June 13, 2007, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2007 and Friday, March 21, 2008. Judges evaluate entries by the following criteria: Content and packaging, 40 percent; writing quality 40 percent; layout and appearance, 10 percent; reader service and appeal, 10 percent.

Sports News: Reporting of games, matches and other breaking sports news. Entry should note the time and date the event occurred or the game ended, and press time. Limit of three entries per newspaper. An entry is a single story.

Sports Columns: An entry is up to three columns on sports topics by the same author. Limit of three entries per newspaper.

Sports Features: For a single story or series on a topic or person. Emphasis will be placed on subject matter, writing and originality. Limit of three entries per newspaper.

Business: For outstanding writing and reporting on a business topic, with special emphasis on relevance for the non-business reader. The entry may be a single story or column or a series. Limit of three entries per newspaper.

Entertainment: A column, story or review featured as part of the newspaper about entertainment. Limit of three entries per newspaper.

Headlines: A collection of five headlines which demonstrate the editor's skill in capturing the essence of a story and the reader's attention. Headlines need to be reflective of the mood of the story. Clippings or photocopies of the headlines should include the entire story accompanying the headline. Each entry is considered a body of work by an individual. Headlines may come from any section, including sports. Limit of three entries per newspaper. (First place in this category will NOT be considered for the Sweepstakes Award.)

Informational Graphic: A single informational graphic which demonstrates the creator's ability to effectively convey information to the reader. Creativity and artistic ability will be taken into consideration. If the graphic has an accompanying story, please submit the story with the graphic for clarification purposes. Limit of three entries per newspaper. (First place in this category will NOT be considered for the Sweepstakes Award.)

Page Design: Entries may include any page from any section of the newspaper. Entries will be judged on how well type, photography and other visual elements work together; how pleasing the page as a whole looks; how well headlines sell the stories; originality and effectiveness. Entries: Submit one full page for each entry. Facing-page or double-truck designs are eligible as a single page. Two or more pages may be submitted if a story jumps and the jump pages are to be judged. (First place in this category will NOT be considered for the Sweepstakes Award.)

Sweepstakes Award: A Sweepstakes Award will be selected in each division from among the first-place winners of the reporting and writing categories. General Excellence, Headlines, Informational Graphic and Page Design will not be considered for the Sweepstakes Awards.

Questions?

For the editorial contest, contact Dave Zelio at the AP Chicago bureau, 312-920-3630.