SPJ NorCal - Society of Professional Journalists – Northern California

25TH ANNUAL EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS CONTEST

These awards honor the journalists whose work best reflects the SPJ ideals of initiative, integrity, talent and compassion. We also are seeking nominees for six special Board of Directors Awards: Journalist of the Year, Career Achievement, Distinguished Service, Unsung Hero, Meritorious SPJ Service, and the Silver Heart.

Sincerely,

Liz Enochs,  SPJ NorCal board member

CONTEST CATEGORIES:

SPECIAL CATEGORY: THE ENVIRONMENT
Honors individuals, teams or news organizations for outstanding coverage of environmental issues and concerns. All forms of journalism (breaking news, investigative, opinion, photography, etc.) are eligible. Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples of work, which may include stories, columns, photographs, editorials, blogs, etc.
Categories: All media

SPECIAL CATEGORY: HEALTH CARE
Honors individuals, teams or news organizations for outstanding coverage of health care issues. All forms of journalism (breaking news, investigative, opinion, photography, etc.) are eligible.
Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples of work, which may include stories, columns, photographs, editorials, blogs, etc.
Categories: All media

SPECIAL CATEGORY: THE ECONOMY
Honors individuals, teams or news organizations for outstanding coverage of the economy/financial crisis and its effect on American businesses and citizens. All forms of journalism (breaking news, investigative, opinion, photography, etc.) are eligible. Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples of work, which may include stories, columns, photographs, editorials, blogs, etc.
Categories: All media

BREAKING NEWS
Honors individuals, teams or news organizations whose work demonstrates clear and accurate reporting and graceful writing on deadline. Judges will consider deadline pressure and complexity of subject.
Entry specifications: Submit up to three stories.
Categories: Print, Broadcast, Online

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING
Honors individuals or teams that identify important issues and demonstrate initiative, persistence and resourcefulness pursuing information that is restricted or not easily available.
Entry specifications: Submit one story or series of related stories.
Categories: Print, Broadcast, Online

EXPLANATORY JOURNALISM
Honors journalists who increase readers’ and/or viewers’ understanding of significant or complex issues. Entries may add understanding to issues in the news or may focus on issues largely uncovered by the media.
Entry specifications: Submit one story or series of related stories.
Categories: Print, Broadcast, Online

COMMUNITY JOURNALISM
Honors journalists and organizations for exceptional coverage of a well-defined small community or neighborhood. Entries may include print publications, news broadcasts or online news sites. University-supported projects are not eligible. Entry specifications: Submit no more than five news stories or packages demonstrating the range and depth of local news coverage.
Categories: Print, Broadcast, Online

FEATURE STORYTELLING
Honors journalists for exceptional writing that demonstrates originality of approach. Judges will consider humor or drama evoked, style, clarity of writing and suitability of the writing to the subject.
Entry specifications: Submit story or series.
Categories: Print, Broadcast, Online

COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS
Honors individuals for exceptional writing of commentary, analysis and editorials. Print entries may include bylined or unsigned editorials and columns. Online entries may include news-related blogs. Judges will consider quality of writing, clarity of analysis and originality of approach.
Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples
Categories: Print, broadcast, online (includes news blogs)

ARTS & CULTURE REPORTING
Honors journalists for incisive reporting about art, music, movies, theater, dance, books, restaurants, architecture or other public performance. May also include reviews. Judges will consider quality of analysis and persuasiveness of arguments.
Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples
Categories: Print, broadcast, online.

MULTIPLATFORM JOURNALISM
Honors journalists and news organizations for excellence in reporting and storytelling across two or more media. Entries do not need to include a print component. Judges will consider originality and clarity of approach, quality of each component, interactivity and ease of use.
Entry specifications: Submit up to three stories/packages/projects.
Categories: All media

JOURNALISM INNOVATION
Honors individuals or organizations that have demonstrated innovative ways to further the goals of journalism, using online tools, new funding strategies and/or other approaches; entrants should demonstrate how innovation has led to unique coverage.
Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples showing how this innovation works.
Categories: All media.

PHOTOJOURNALISM
Honors photojournalists whose work demonstrates exceptional skill in capturing defining moments. Judges will consider technical and aesthetic qualities. Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples or a related series of photos.
Categories: All media.

OUTSTANDING EMERGING JOURNALIST
Honors a journalist with less than five years of professional experience whose work shows great promise. Entry specifications: Submit resume and three samples of work.
Categories: All media

STUDENT SPECIAL PROJECT
Honors individuals or classes of college-level students for exemplary reporting, writing, and/or photography produced by all forms of student media, including special projects that report local news. These should be student-generated and not part of an ongoing university-sponsored project. Entry specifications: Submit up to three samples.
Categories: All media

PUBLIC SERVICE
Honors individuals, teams, or news organizations that try to improve conditions for the benefit of society. Entries will be judged on the significance of the issues, evidence of initiative, effectiveness of presentation and results obtained or pledged.
Entry specifications: May include project articles, editorials, public service announcements, cartoons, photos, graphics and online material.
Categories: All media

NORCAL SPJ BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ AWARDS CATEGORIES:

(A nomination letter is required; also see online instructions)

Journalist of the Year
For extraordinary journalistic contributions in the past year.

Career Achievement
For extraordinary achievements exemplifying the highest standards of the profession.

Unsung Hero
A person whose contribution to journalism is often overlooked (e.g., copy editor, librarian, web producer).

Meritorious SPJ Service/The John Gothberg Award
For outstanding contributions to the NorCal Chapter of SPJ.

Distinguished Service
For distinguished service to journalism by a journalist or non-journalist.

The Silver Heart
Awarded to a journalist whose career reflects an extraordinary dedication to giving voice to the voiceless.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:
Stories must have been published between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2010, by a news outlet or individuals based in Northern California.

Deadline: Entries must be postmarked or time-stamped by Sept. 7, 2012

Multiple entries:
Only stories or projects entered in the Public Service category may also be entered in one other category.

What to submit if mailing entry:
Print: Original clips or legible copies (including PDFs) of each story entered.
Online: URLS, which must be live through Nov. 30, 2011.
Photo: On CD in RGB & JPG format, or tearsheets.
Video: DVD of each story; indicate length. Radio: CDs; indicate length.

What to submit if entering via the web:
Print, Online, Photo, Video, Radio: A URL (or URLs) that is live and accessible through Nov. 30, 2010. Entries with broken links will be disqualified.

How to submit:

CLICK HERE FOR MAILED ENTRY FORM: Mailed entries must be submitted in triplicate, each copy in its own letter-sized folder with the entry form stapled to the front.
Mail to: SPJ NorCal, c/o Liz Enochs, 44 New Montgomery St., Suite 250 San Francisco, CA 94114. (Make checks payable to “SPJ NorCal”).

CLICK HERE FOR ONLINE ENTRY FORM: Online entries must provide URLs that are live through Nov. 30, 2010.

Fee:
$25 per entry for SPJ members*; $35 per entry for non-members. Make checks payable to “SPJ NorCal.”
Mail to: SPJ NorCal, c/o Liz Enochs, 44 Montgomery St., Suite 250 San Francisco, CA 94114.

Click here to pay with Paypal (scroll down past entry form if you are mailing an entry packet)
If you wish to pay online, you may do so through Paypal. There is a small service fee. Click either the member or non-member button. From there, you may pay either by logging into your PayPal account or with a major credit card. See the nomination form for instructions on how to submit your entry before paying.

*To be eligible for the $25 member entry fee, you must be a member of both the SPJ national organization (current price $72) AND the SPJ Northern California chapter ($20) at the time-stamp of entry. Membership is good for 12 months, based on the date you joined. Chapter membership entitles you to free or reduced member admission to NorCal chapter activities, including the informative Journalism in the Age of iPhone series, and the Excellence in Journalism awards event. See www.spj.org/join.asp to join SPJ and the NorCal chapter.