FLORIDA SOCIETY OF NEWSPAPER EDITORS
2008 NEWSPAPER COMPETITION
(For work published in 2007)
General Rules:
1. Any newspaper that is a member of FSNE and has paid membership dues for 2008 may enter. Entries by special interest publications or by Florida-based staff members of news services will automatically be entered in Division A; the organizations must be FSNE members. All categories are divided into three circulation divisions (based on daily circulation). The divisions are changed for 2008:
- Division A: more than 125,000 daily
- Division B: 60,000 to 125,000 daily
- Division C: under 60,000 daily
Circulation figures, as published in the most recent Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, determine each newspaper’s division.
2. Material submitted must have appeared in a daily newspaper in Florida, a Spanish-language paper (daily or weekly) in Florida, or a daily Florida newspaper’s web site during the previous calendar year and must have been the work of staff members of the newspaper or Florida-based staff members of a news service.
3. Newspapers may not enter substantially duplicate material in different categories. Judges may move entries between categories when appropriate.
4. Brief explanatory note or cover letter to judges must accompany entries. In the “Gold Medal” categories of Daily Deadline, Features, Investigative and Explanatory, the note or cover letter should provide explanations, background, impact or follow-up to the articles submitted.
5. All category entries must be placed into standard letter-size folders. Entries comprising a full newspaper page or part of a page may be submitted as whole tearsheets, quarter-folded. Printouts of stories are acceptable. Clear photocopies as well as original clippings are acceptable.
7. Photo and design entries will be handled electronically this year. Detailed explanations for photo and design entries are included with this note.
8. Graphics/Illustration should include a tearsheet showing the published work.
9. Each entry (including photo and design) must include an entry form attached to the face of a folder, identifying the newspaper, the name of the staff member(s) whose work is being entered, the subject or title of the entry, the category and the circulation division. (The same form should be used for print, online and Spanish-language entries.) A separate folder must be used for each entry except photo and design, which may contain multiple entries on a single disk and in a single folder. Elaborate bindings are not allowed and may be cause for disqualification. One copy of the entry form is enclosed. Additional copies can be printed here.
10. Work by more than two staff members will be treated as a staff entry for the purposes of identification on awards. Only one plaque will be given to each winner in a category. Editors are encouraged to list all staff members participating in an entry on the cover of the folder to assist contest officials in notifying winners.
11. A newspaper may have up to three entries in each category, except as listed in the category instructions. If the limits are exceeded, the contest judges will determine the manner for discarding excess entries. There is no limit on the number of overall entries by the newspaper.
11. A complete list of entries for each paper and the full entry fee must accompany each group of entries. The entry fees are $30 per entry for all divisions. Checks should be made payable to FSNE. Payment may also be made by credit card this year. We prefer Visa, MasterCard or Discover because their fees are smaller than American Express. We also ask those who use a credit card to please cover all entries with a single transaction, also to limit the credit-card fees.
12. Judges will be chosen from other states by the contest chairs with the advice and consent of the FSNE president. At least two judges shall be independent of ties to Florida newspapers; no more than one shall represent any individual newspaper group or organization with newspapers in Florida. Judging will be conducted in March. Judges will establish their own procedures for considering entries.
13. Entries in photography and design, online and Spanish-language will be judged separately. The deadlines are the same for all entries.
14. All entries must be postmarked by Friday, Feb. 29, 2008. (To ensure that contest officials receive your entry, send it Certified Mail / Return Receipt Requested.)
15. Send entries, checks and entry forms to:
Robyn Tomlin
FSNE Contest Coordinator
Star-Banner
2121 SW 19th Ave. Rd.
Ocala, FL 34474
(Yes, “Ave. Rd.” is CQ in the address)
Winners will be announced at the annual FSNE convention in Orlando in June 2008.
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