As a first-time judge for this year’s APSE contest, I must admit that this was even more of an eye-opening experience than I originally anticipated.
Not only was I exposed to an incredible array of quality writing, which helped reinforce my confidence in the standards that remain at play in our industry, but I also came away with a newfound respect for the judging process and for the amount of work and commitment that goes into this annual contest.
Even though I have 16 years in this business and have been on both sides of the writing and editing pool – choosing which stories to enter for my staff and wondering which of my own stood the best chance of winning – I had no idea how painstaking a process the judging actually is. Every single judge takes his or her responsibility seriously and I can attest that some lengthy and sometimes heated debates over specific entries take place pretty regularly.
One of the things I appreciated the most was how well thought out the entire judging system is as far as ensuring that all entries get cursory reads from a minimum of three judges, four when it comes to evaluating the daily, Sunday and special sections. It’s not easy wading through upwards of more than 100 stories or projects in a single category and whittling them down to the 10 best. And to then take those top 10 and try to rank them is even more stressful, but at the end of the four days I can say with the utmost confidence that all of the winners were truly deserving.
Apart from the actual judging process, those four days also opened a window into the passion with which sports editors from every circulation size continue to approach their jobs. I lost count of how many times I saw a different sports editor rush to his or her computer or his cell phone to put out a fire back at the shop and then dive right back into a pile of feature stories, explanatory features, game stories or columns.
Considering how in flux our industry is today, it was comforting to see the dedication to quality and eagerness to improve that was at the forefront of this winter conference. The session on social media and how it can benefit newspapers put on by Tim Stephens and Matt Humphrey of the Orlando Sentinel was very well-received and sparked some very interesting conversation.
I would encourage every sports editor out there, if they can swing it, to participate as a judge at one of these conferences at least one time in order to be able to get a glimpse at the quality of work being produced elsewhere and to be able to exchange ideas with their brethren.
(Read first-time judge John Turner’s reflections here.)
