2011-2012 New Jersey
College Newspaper Contest

Sponsored by

Entry Deadline for the 2011-2012 Contest is March 9, 2012 at 11 p.m.

New Jersey college newspapers are encouraged to enter the New Jersey College Newspaper Contest to honor their newspapers and the journalistic writing, photography and artistic skills of their staff members.

Content of print and online college newspapers published between March 1, 2011, and February 28, 2012, may be submitted. Click here for a list of the contest categories.

Every New Jersey college newspaper will be e-mailed contest entry instructions in January. If your newspaper doesn't receive that e-mail, please call New Jersey Press Foundation at 609-406-0600, ext. 13.

The e-mail will give detailed instructions for submitting entries digitally. The contest entry deadline is March 9, 2012 at 11 p.m. You may download the instructions by clicking on this link: Contest Rules.

There are 12 individual categories and two newspaper categories.

Newspapers may submit three entries for each of the 12 categories for individual student work and one entry for each of the two newspaper categories – a total of up to 38 possible entries per newspaper. Each individual entry may include two examples of a student’s work. The newspaper categories – layout and general excellence – also may include two examples.

Entry Fees: $8 per entry for 1-27 entries submitted. The maximum is $220 per newspaper, for any number of entries over 27 and up to 38. The fee is for the number of entries submitted, NOT the number of examples, i.e., two examples are allowed for each single entry.

Four-year and two-year colleges will be judged as separate divisions, with separate awards presented in each.

For the two newspaper categories, separate awards will be presented to daily/weekly/bi-weekly newspapers and to newspapers published 12 or fewer times during the academic year.

All entries must be submitted in digital form as PDFs of the entire printed or online pages on which articles, photographs or illustrations appeared. The newspaper entries also must be submitted as PDFs.

For details, please refer to the Entry Instructions here or in the Contest Rules.

The top editor or newspaper faculty adviser must verify that each entry follows the rules of the contest and is presented as it appeared in newspapers delivered on campus or online.

All Entry fees must be paid by March 30, 2012 to be eligible.

Winners will be announced on this website on April 6, 2012.

Award recipients will be honored at the NJCPA Spring Conference & Awards Luncheon on April 21, 2012.
 

Description of Contest Categories

Overview

Preference in judging is given to entries covering local campus events and college life. Quality journalistic writing, photography, artistic illustrations and design are the primary basis for evaluating entries.

Quality of ledes, handling of quotes, background and supporting information for articles, and smooth transition of story elements are considered as part of a holistic appraisal of each writing-category entry.

The quality of the entire newspaper is considered for the General Excellence category. The judges consider the overall "look and feel" of the newspaper and how it appeals to readers. Please read the category descriptions below for additional judging criteria.

Individual Awards

A maximum of THREE individual entries per category may be submitted by each newspaper. A student may be entered once in each category. Articles written by two or more staff members working as a team will be considered as one entry. However, that doesn’t prohibit a team member from submitting a second individual entry in that category. An entry consists of up to TWO writing samples, photographs or illustrations by the same student or team. A sidebar to a story may be submitted as the second writing sample in an entry.

NEWS WRITING: Coverage of a college-related event, situation or issue qualifies as hard news. To be judged on fairness, thoroughness, local interest and style. Two writing samples may be submitted with each entry.

DEADLINE REPORTING: News coverage of a breaking news story that happened on or near campus no more than 48 hours prior to publication. This does NOT include sports or arts events, nor planned interviews or features. To be judged on fairness, thoroughness, style and the presentation of helpful information that kept the campus community up to date. Two writing samples may be submitted with each entry.

FEATURE WRITING: An article on a place, object or situation that is college-related and/or of special interest to students (including sports features). While the standards of good news writing apply, feature writing is judged on originality and human interest. Two writing samples may be submitted with each entry.

BIOGRAPHY / PERSONALITY PROFILE: An article about a person or small group of special interest to students (including sports personalities). While the standards of good news writing apply, feature writing is judged on originality and human interest. Two writing samples may be submitted with each entry.

EDITORIAL WRITING: Editorial entries should be on issues of special interest to the college or to students. Judging will be based on writing quality, depth of thought, courage, public service and persuasive ability. Two writing samples may be submitted with each entry.

COLUMN / OPINION WRITING: A column or opinion article on an issue of special interest to the college or to students (including sports columns, but NOT including arts & entertainment or critical writing). To be judged on quality of writing, depth of thought, courage, public service and persuasive ability. Does not include editorials, which are articles that represent the opinion of the newspaper rather than the individual writer. Two writing samples may be submitted with each entry.

SPORTS WRITING: A sports news story based on college-related sports activities. Judged on quality of writing, originality, local appeal and lack of sports clichés. Two writing samples may be submitted with each entry. Please note: Sports columns must be entered in the Opinion Writing category. Sports features must be entered in the Feature Writing category.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT / CRITICAL WRITING: An article that recognizes opinion writing in such areas as art, theater, movie, book and restaurant reviews. Judging will be based on technical knowledge, writing quality and local appeal to college students. Two writing samples may be submitted with each entry.

ENTERPRISE / INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING: An investigative article or in-depth report that uncovers a newsworthy happening or series of happenings on campus. The judges will consider enterprise, initiative and resourcefulness of the writer or team of writers. Two writing samples may be submitted with each entry.

GENERAL PHOTOGRAPHY: Any photo or photo series (picture story) of college or student activities. Entries will be evaluated primarily on composition, content and local appeal. Photographs of competitive sporting events and individuals participating in competitive sporting events must be entered in the Sports Photography category. Two photo samples may be submitted with each entry.

SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY: Any photo or photo series of competitive college sports. Entries will be evaluated primarily on composition, content and local appeal. Two photo samples may be submitted in each entry.

EDITORIAL CARTOON / ARTISTIC STORY ILLUSTRATION: Entries will be judged on newsworthiness, originality and artistry. If the entry relates to other content on the page it will be evaluated on how well it illustrates that content. Two artistic samples may be submitted in each entry.

Newspaper Awards

Indicate the newspaper's frequency on the entry form. For the two newspaper categories, separate awards will be presented to daily/weekly/bi-weekly newspapers and to newspapers published 12 or fewer times during the academic year.

Newspapers may submit one entry per category, with TWO examples per entry.

LAYOUT & DESIGN: The layout and design of specific pages or center-spreads will be considered in this category. Major judging factors include overall attractiveness, excellence of makeup, headlines, typography, special visual and verbal aids to the reader, and use of photos, illustrations and graphics. Newspapers may submit PDF tearsheets of TWO pages or center-spreads as a single entry.

GENERAL EXCELLENCE: An overall look at the coverage, writing quality, copy editing, style use and layout in the newspaper. Judging will take local appeal, effectiveness and readability into account. Newspapers should submit PDFs of TWO different and complete issues of the paper as a single entry.

PLEASE NOTE …

• All entries become the property of New Jersey Press Foundation.

• The contest will be judged by active and retired editors, senior reporters, photographers and graphic artists from New Jersey daily and weekly newspapers.

• The judges' decisions are final.
   

How to Submit Entries

Entries to the New Jersey College Newspaper Contest will be submitted using a web-based program at http://betternewspapercontest.com/.

Below are directions for preparing and submitting entries.
Or download a PDF of the Contest Rules and Entry Instructions.
 

ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS

The deadline for all entries is Friday, March 9, 2012 at 11:00 p.m.

1. Logging in for the first time:

   1. Go to http://betternewspapercontest.com/.

   2. Under "Are you a contestant?" click on "Newspaper Login".

   3. Select “NJ College Newspaper Contest 2011-12” from the drop-down list.

   4. In the “News Organization” drop-down list, select your newspaper name.

   5. In the password box, enter the temporary password bnc (case sensitive).

   6. Press “Login”.

   7. Enter a new private password for everyone on your newspaper's staff to use:

      1. Click on "My Account" to change the password

      2. Review the contact information for your newspaper.

      3. Press “Submit”.

      4. Share the password with those who need to know it.

    

2. To submit entries:

   1. Login as above, using your newspaper’s private password.

   2. Click “Submit Entry” link.

   3. Select the “Division” from the drop-down list: “Individual” or “Newspaper”

   4. Select the specific “Category” from the drop-down list.

   5. In the “Headline or Title of Entry” box, enter the name of the story, photo or special section exactly as it appears on the page. When submitting multiple examples in an entry, list all titles separated by two slashes, like this: Title1 // Title2 //Title3.
      DO NOT USE ALL CAPS or all lower case. Also, do NOT use other forms of punctuation to separate titles.

   6. Click on the “Browse” button to “Upload Attachment”. (For details about entry preparation, see below.) Navigate to the desired electronic file, select it and click on “Open”. Then click “Upload”.

   7. In the boxes labeled "Who should be credited for this entry?" enter the names of those who worked on the entry. If more than four, enter Staff.

   8. Press “Submit.”

    

3. To manage entries:

   1. Before the contest deadline, your contest coordinator MUST login and go to
      “Manage Entries” to release the newspaper’s entries for judging.

   2. Under the “Actions” column, click on “Enable” next to each entry to be judged.

   3. The coordinator also can “Edit” and “Delete” an entry, or print a “Label” with specific information about the entry.