Greetings everyone:
We’ve entered the final three months of 2023, with a sports season in full swing.
With that in mind, I wanted to get the updated rules for this year’s contest to you as early as I could. There are a handful of changes this year, including a new category for beat writing, and also new regulations when it comes to the ability to enter some items in multiple categories.
We’ve had a great contest in recent years thanks to great leadership and editors getting things in on time. Let’s keep that trend going!
Take a look below to get yourself up to speed with what you’ll be preparing for. Ask your writers to start thinking about their best work from this year. Get a doc started with some links. You’ll need them soon enough. Entry deadline is not finalized, but it will be in early January 2024, as usual.
If you don’t want to keep coming back to this page, you can refer to this as a Google doc.
And remember that you MUST BE AN APSE MEMBER to enter the contest. Get that membership part out of the way right now. HERE’S THE LINK TO THE “JOIN APSE” PAGE.
Best of luck!
— Dan
JUDGING
- In-person judging will take place at the Doubletree Suites Orlando/Disney Springs on Feb. 25-29, 2024.
- There will also be a remote judging period ahead of and during this time. More details coming soon, including signup form.
- Contest chair: Dan Spears, starnewsdan@gmail.com or dspears@gannett.com, 910-409-4422
WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?
- Editors will be asked to provide a combined digital-only + print circulation in order to determine divisions.
- A new category for national beat writing, with all entries combined into a single division, similar to investigative. It will include writers whose beats go beyond a single team or geographical area.
- Maximum of one story entered in a writing category can be entered as a “publishing example” in the Digital Contest.
- Event Coverage category timeframe is expanded to 48 hours.
- Word counts for Short Features and Long Features have been changed.
- Entries completed by multiple organizations must be entered by the largest of the organizations involved.
- The Special Section contest again will start at two divisions – A/B and C/D – but could be increased with a high enough number of entries.
- Triple Crown and Grand Slam categories: Print Portfolio, Digital, Event Coverage and Projects. To be recognized for a Triple Crown, your publication will need to place in the Top 10 in any three of the four categories.
HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST
- All entries will be submitted as website links, posted into entry keys provided in a Google folder from APSE
- To enter, you must have a Google account. You’ll need this both to submit entries and to judge in person or remotely.
GENERAL RULES
Entries that do not adhere to the rules may be disqualified.
- With the exception of Beat Writing, no article may be entered in more than one writing category. Related to this rule: You cannot enter the same material as a Project and as a Special Section. Items entered in the Projects category cannot be entered in another writing category, with the exception of a single story in Beat Writing. Stories entered in Event Coverage can’t be entered in any other writing category, including Beat Writing.
- One entry per writer per category, although a writer may be entered in the same category a second time (and only a second time) if they are a member of a team (two or more writers) entry. A single team may not be entered twice.
- Editors from chains will be asked to declare which reporters “belong” to which publications.
- Example: If Steve Wiseman covers Duke University for the Durham Herald-Sun and Raleigh News & Observer, the presiding editor should identify which publication he represents (probably Durham).
- Stories, Projects or Event Coverage done by multiple writers from different-sized publications must be entered by the largest publication. If Wiseman and Scott Fowler share a dual byline, the story must be entered by the Charlotte Observer.
- Example: If a Project is completed by multiple (two or more) organizations in the same chain, it must be entered by the larger organization. For example, if the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss., and the Tennessean in Nashville, combine on a Project, it must be entered by the Tennessean.
- None of these apply to “contributing” taglines, only bylines.
- Editors are on their honor. Please make time to provide a list of where writers who appear in multiple publications belong by the entry deadline.
- In single-story categories, dual bylines by writers of different organizations are allowed in Breaking News and Explanatory. APSE will recognize both writers if the story finishes in the Top 10.
- A maximum of two writers and a maximum of two publications are permitted.
- Special sections that include content from network and sister publications may be entered, but judges will place a premium on local/staff content. They will have the discretion to determine how much staff impact the section has — as well as how it was constructed — and grade the entry accordingly.
- If an article was published as a column but is entered in Game Story, Long Feature, Short Feature or Breaking News, the judging group will have disqualification authority.
TO REPEAT: THE MOST IMPORTANT RULES
- With the exception of Beat Writing, no article may be entered in more than one writing category. We repeat: you have to choose. See above.
- There is a limit of one entry per writer per category, although a writer may be entered in the same category a second time (and only a second time) if he/she is a member of a team (two or more writers) entry. A single team may not be entered twice.
- Make sure logins and passwords to paywalled websites work.
NEWSPAPER/WEBSITE DIVISIONS
- Each organization will be placed into a division based on total print + digital circulation to create a like number of entries and balance across all divisions: A, B, C and D.
- Divisions will be announced the day after the entry deadline. Editors can denote ahead of time, or within 48 hours of division announcements, if they want to compete in a larger division. Organizations may not drop down a division.
PRINT CONTEST
Print Portfolio
A portfolio will consist of five total sections from 2023: 2 dailies (1 mandatory), 2 Sundays (1 mandatory) and 1 wild card entry, which can be a daily or Sunday.
If your organization does not have a Sunday edition, a Saturday edition can be used. If your organization does not publish a print edition on Saturday or Sunday, please consult Dan about how to enter a portfolio.
Mandatory dates
- Feb. 20-26
- Week TBA (from July 1-Dec. 31, to be chosen after Christmas)
- If you pick a Sunday section from the first mandatory week, you must pick a daily section from the second week. If you pick a daily section from the first mandatory week, you must pick the Sunday section from the second week.
Entry guidelines
- Print section entries may include: self-contained sports sections, sports-related material from any other sections of the paper, and special sections that include primarily live content or are regularly scheduled (For example: High school football wraps, college football gameday sections, quarterly outdoors sections.)
- Print section entries may NOT include: Pre-planned standalone special sections (like previews of upcoming seasons or major events). Those must be entered in the special section or projects categories.
- Sections must be turned into a single PDF for all five days of your entry. Here’s a tutorial that can help send sections by PDF.
Judging guidelines
- Judges will select – but not rank – the top 10 sections in each circulation category and will select as many as 10 honorable mentions. The number of top sections can be smaller than 10 if there isn’t a sufficient number of entries to justify a top 10.
- The best sections offer game and event coverage, news, features and opinion, supported by scores, results and standings of the day’s activities as needed to reflect the interest of the readership. There should be an appeal to the fanatic as well as the casual fan – and an attempt to satisfy a range of readership diversity. Judges should look closely at a few areas:
- News judgment: Determine the quality of staff-written material. Space should be used wisely. Big-event coverage should be coordinated to avoid overlap. News should be played properly, and judges should look at reactions to breaking news. Where there are few professional teams, judges should look for strong treatment of college, high school and other local results. Even where there are no professional teams, there should be coverage of such national stories as the Super Bowl, World Series, etc. Game coverage should have strong analytical and commentary components. Is there over-reliance on wires? Reliance on wires is OK on some days, but not as a steady diet.
- Enterprise: Judges must note if there is an effort to bring something extra. Does the section offer features, trend pieces, scoops, innovative standing features or reader nuggets? Do efforts show originality and a high level of reporting, writing and expertise? Is there an effort to entertain as well as inform? Are there light touches?
Special Sections
News organizations may submit one special section. These are one-subject or one-theme sections issued one time.
Entry guidelines
- What’s not eligible: Special sections sold only as stand-alone products on newsstands or elsewhere. The special section must have been part of the regular newspaper run. A special section may contain live news (like stories in which a team wins a championship) related to the theme, but it may not include unrelated articles.
- Special sections that include content from network and sister publications may be entered, but judges will place a premium on local/staff content. They will have the discretion to determine how much staff impact the section has.
- Live special sections may be entered as long as they have not been entered as part of the print portfolio.
Judging guidelines
- Judges will select – but not rank – the top 10 sections in each division and will select as many as 10 honorable mentions. The number of top sections can be smaller than 10 if there isn’t a sufficient number of entries to justify a top 10.
- How are special sections judged: Does the section have impact? Does it hold your attention? Is it distinctive? Does it have imagination and originality?
- Design: Is there a coordinated presentation of pictures, graphics, illustrations and articles that help the reader understand the theme or subject? Does it make sense? Is it attractive? Judges may consider color reproduction.
- Writing/content: Is it well written, well edited and truly special? Is the content consistent, useful, informative and/or entertaining? Does the theme hold up?
DIGITAL CONTEST
- One entry per organization; five components per entry; no cover letters.
- Digital is now part of the Triple Crown and Grand Slam, so you must enter this contest if you aspire to win a Triple Crown/Grand Slam.
- The digital contest is broken down into publishing examples (a recommended 85 percent weight) and live judging of your website (a recommended 15 percent).
- Maximum of one story entered in a writing category can be entered as a “publishing example” in the Digital Contest.
- Videos entered in the digital contest are eligible for “Excellence in Video” certificates. More details below.
- Digital contest entries are submitted on the “digital contest” entry key in your organization’s folder.
Publishing examples
Entries will be judged, foremost, on how well your staff uses digital tools, on and off platform, to tell stories and engage readers. What do you do digitally for your readers and what can your staff accomplish at its most creative?
In your five publishing examples, you can include but are not limited to:
Individual story: Example of a story that is particularly effective online because it ties together multiple elements that play particularly well for a mobile or online audience. The story and the art are the furniture; photos, graphics, interactive elements, video, details boxes, pull quotes podcasting that’s tied to the subject matter of the story … all items that enhance the reader experience are the emphasis for this score.
Video: Video can stand alone or be embedded as supplementary material in an article, but it must be produced by your editorial department. Examples include feature videos like player profiles, live panel discussions and game highlights with analysis. Video produced by affiliated television stations is not allowed. Reporter stand-ups and press conference/locker room scrums can be included but would score lower. Videos will be judged on the strength of storytelling and expertise; visual and audio quality will be considered.
Other multimedia: Charts/lists/graphics that tell a story, game film reviews with original reporting, photo galleries, podcasts (just one episode, and denote a 10-minute time period that judges should listen to).
Interactives: Graphics, quizzes, games, reader callouts.
Social Media: Demonstrate how you promote your content and engage with readers/sources off platform. Examples include Facebook groups, Instagram Live, TikTok video, Reddit AMAs, Twitter threads, Twitter Spaces.
Newsletters: A staff-written, -edited and -published newsletter (automated newsletters do not count)
Live judging of websites
The digital contest is not about who has the best website because sports editors often have no control over design, story placement and navigability, but here are some things for judges to consider when looking at entries:
- Something that stands out: Did the site offer a variety of elements such as photo galleries, videos, graphics in addition to stories?
- Enticing headlines that draw readers in.
- Smart related content to keep you on the site
- Freshness of content, emphasis of content, mix of content
- Did you enjoy the experience? Would you keep coming back?
A word about mobile: More and more of our readers are getting their news on their phones. Judges are encouraged to look at publishing examples on their phones to evaluate how the entrant serves its mobile audience, but, for now, it is up to the judges’ discretion how much weight to give mobile experiences. For example, a great mobile experience might help an entrant, but a bad mobile experience might not hurt it.
Excellence in video
In an effort to recognize the video work of our members, judges can also award up to five “excellence in video” citations in each division. Any video entered among the five publishing examples in the digital contest will be eligible for this award. This is intended to recognize individual videos. Long-form multimedia-like video series can be entered as Projects.
While an organization could enter five videos as its publishing examples to compete for a video award, such an entry would be unlikely to earn a top 10 in the Digital Contest, which is a Triple Crown category.
WRITING AND PHOTO CONTEST
Preliminary judges will select the top 10 stories in each division of each category as finalists. As with sections, a category that does not have a sufficient number of entries can be reduced to Top 5.
Each judge, separately and on a secret ballot, will list the stories in order from 1 to 10, with 1 being the best story. The 10 finalists will be submitted to the contest committee, which will give them to a second judging group, which also will rank the stories 1-10 in the same fashion as the first group. All judges’ ballots will be turned into the contest chair to accumulate points and determine the final ranking.
Investigative
- One entry per organization; 1 to 10 articles per entry; cover letter accepted.
- There are no circulation divisions in Investigative. All entries are judged together.
- Up to five contributors can be named per entry; if more than five people contributed to the entry, please use “Staff.”
- Judging will be based on the entry’s enterprise, initiative, documentation, resourcefulness and original reporting in uncovering newsworthy and significant facts and developments that otherwise might not have been reported. Impact and aftermath of the work should be considered.
- Investigative work should rely on reporting of facts discovered or uncovered by the author(s) rather than reports from anonymous sources offering unverified statements.
- Investigative entries must not include articles for which payments were made for information. Pure and truly significant investigative reporting is rare. Relying solely on quotes from an FBI source does not make a story investigative. Doing the work the FBI would do in order to build a story might be investigative.
- A maximum of 10 links, which can include graphics/charts and multimedia, can be submitted as part of the official entry. Additional links can be included as supplemental material, but will not be required reading by the judges.
- The cover letter should be no longer than three paragraphs and explain what a judge needs to know about the entry that’s not apparent from reading the material. For example: The time peg for when a story is published, the impact of the story to the community, the rarity of getting a particular source, how it tied into a broader or more narrow trending issue at the time.
Beat Writing
- There are now two categories for beat writing.
- National beat writing, in which reporters cover a league, sport or topic as a whole, not just one franchise (Ex: the NFL, the Southeastern Conference, the Olympics, national sports media). All national beat writing entries will be judged together, with no divisions, similar to Investigative.
- Team or locality beat writing (Ex: The Houston Astros, University of Kansas athletics, high school and community sports in Asheville, N.C.). All entries in this category will be divided by divisions.
- For both categories, two entries per organization are allowed.
- This collection of articles by a single author (can be more than one on the Breaking News entry only) should show authoritative, newsy and innovative coverage of a beat.
- Each entry consists of five items:
- One breaking news story. It can be coverage of breaking news, but judges are allowed to give more weight to beat writers who were first with the news.
- One event or game coverage story. This could be a column or sidebar.
- One enterprise story.
- Two wild-card entries, from any of the aforementioned categories or other analysis related to the beat. Multimedia can be one or both wild cards.
- Examples of multimedia or digital features eligible to be entered as a wild card in Beat Writing are:
- Newsletter authored by the entrant
- Game predictions, report cards, mailbags
- Charts/graphics researched, compiled and produced by the entrant
- Video that the writer shoots and scripts and is the primary voice for. Video produced by affiliated television stations is not allowed.
- Social media content in which the entrant is the creator, host or moderator like Twitter threads and Spaces, Instagram Live videos, Reddit AMAs, etc.
- Podcasts are eligible, but only one episode, and the entrant must be the host or primary contributor. Enter episodes longer than 30 minutes at your own risk. If there is a particular section of the podcast that is strongest (between minutes 12 and 17, for example) denote this in your cover letter.
- Cover letters should be no more than three paragraphs and must include:
- An explanation of the parameters of the reporter’s beat and a synopsis of how the combined submissions demonstrate excellence on that beat. The cover letter can note other metrics that show authority and engagement, but should refrain from cheerleading.
- An explanation if the breaking news has more than one byline. Beat writing can have more than one byline in the breaking news entry, provided that the breaking news happens on that writer’s beat and the story is written primarily by the entrant. For example, if the Chicago Bears writer enters in beat writing, he or she cannot include a breaking news item on a local high school story where the Bears beat writer shares the byline.
- An explanation (who did what) if a multimedia entry includes contributors other than the entrant.
NOTE: This is the only writing category in which stories can be entered for a second time. The five articles that make up the entry can (but are not required to) be entered in other categories. For instance, a breaking news story can be entered in Breaking News and Beat Writing. A single article that is part of a Projects entry can be included in Beat Writing. The one exception is Event Coverage. The same article can’t be entered in Beat Writing and Event Coverage.
Breaking News
- Three entries per organization; one article per entry; cover letter accepted.
- Coverage of a sports news development (trades, hirings, firings, franchise shifts, etc.) that occurred in the most recent news cycle. Reporter(s) need not have broken the story, but judges can factor that in.
- Online or print stories can be submitted.
- If an article was published as a column but is entered in Breaking News, the judging group will have disqualification authority.
- No supplemental materials are allowed.
- The cover letter should be no longer than three paragraphs and explain:
- Who from your organization broke the story
- When the news was obtained relative to publication
- What a judge needs to know about this entry that’s not apparent from reading the material
Columns
- Two entries per organization; four articles per entry; no cover letters.
- Judged on style, writing quality, originality and local appeal.
- No restriction on subject matter and no requirement that the columns appear regularly.
- A column cannot be entered in both Columns and Event Coverage. You must choose.
Event Coverage
- One entry per organization; 1-5 articles per entry; no cover letters. Up to five contributors can be named per entry; if more than five people have bylines/credits in Event Coverage, please use “Staff.”
- Up to five examples of event coverage in a 48-hour period, beginning with the first story published on the event, will be considered by the judges. Entries may consist of content that appeared in print or digital formats.
- What is an event? The definition of an event is flexible for the purposes of the contest. The quality of the coverage is paramount to the “importance” of the event: Comprehensive and creative coverage of an event that matters to your readers. Show how your staff captures big moments in the moment.
- If you have questions about what qualifies as an event, ask Dan.
- If you choose a prominent death, a pre-written obit can be part of the coverage as long as you also include live reaction and analysis in your entry.
- Entries can include breaking news stories, columns, videos, photo galleries, charts, podcasts, social media posts and more. These should be your best selections of coverage within the time frame.
- A live print special section cannot be entered here and in the Special Section category.
- Additional links can be included as supplemental material, but will not be required reading by the judges.
- Any item used in an Event Coverage entry cannot be used in any other category of the contest, including Digital, Portfolio or Special Section.
Explanatory
- Two entries per organization; one article per entry; no cover letters.
- Accompanying sidebars, graphics/charts or multimedia can be entered as supplementary material but will not be required reading by the judges.
- Explanatory stories explore the hows and whys of trends, issues and original ideas. They shed new light on issues and personalities in the news. They explain something through clear writing and thorough reporting. They are more than a feature and less than a project entry. They go beyond the “yesterday” of the breaking news story. The explanatory category is often a good home for data reporting.
Long Feature
- Two entries per organization; one entry per writer; one article per entry; no cover letters.
- No sidebars or supplemental material allowed.
- Entries are 1,351 words or more in A and B divisions and 1,101 or more words in C and D divisions. Shorter stories can be entered.
- Word counts can be determined by:
- Copying the story text into a Google Doc
- Editing out captions, headlines, summaries, subheads, advertisements, related links language, pull quotes, and any other content that is not the actual story.
- Bylines and taglines DO NOT COUNT toward the word length.
- Entries will be judged on quality of writing, thoroughness of reporting and reader interest.
- If an article was published as a column but is entered in Long Feature, the judging group will have disqualification authority.
Short Feature
- Two entries per organization; one entry per writer; one article per entry; no cover letters.
- No sidebars or supplemental material allowed.
- Entries are 1,350 words or less in A and B divisions and 1,100 words or less in C and D divisions. Entries that exceed the above length limits could be disqualified.
- Word counts can be determined by:
- Copying the story text into a Google Doc
- Editing out captions, headlines, summaries, subheads, advertisements, related links language, pull quotes, and any other content that is not the actual story.
- Bylines and taglines DO NOT COUNT toward the word length.
- If an entry is too long to qualify, it can be re-entered in Long Feature Writing or replaced by a different story entry ONLY if the change is made no later than one week after the entry deadline.
- Entries will be judged on quality of writing, thoroughness of reporting and reader interest.
- If an article was published as a column but is entered in Short Feature, the judging group will have disqualification authority.
Projects
- One entry per organization; 1-10 articles per entry; no cover letters.
- Up to five contributors can be named per entry; if more than five people worked on a project, please use “Staff.”
- A project sheds new light on personalities or issues in the news, including trends and original ideas. It is pre-planned content that is conceived and executed as a larger body of work. It is not ongoing coverage of a news event over a period of time in which a number of stories are compiled for an entry.
- A video or audio series, or a long-form documentary or podcast, can be entered as a project as long as it meets the definition of a project above.
- Entries are limited to 10 links, which can be articles, multimedia, data visualization or other story forms. Additional links can be entered as supplementary material but will not be required reading by the judges.
- Material used in a special section can only be used in Special Sections or Projects, but not both. If you enter that material here, the special section may be included as a PDF in supplementary material, but it is advised to submit the best elements of the section individually among the 10 entries.
- You CANNOT include any part of the Projects entry (including optional material) in any other writing category — with the exception of one story in the Beat Writing category.
- For example, you can’t take a sidebar from your project entry and enter it in Short Feature and two more pieces as Explanatory entries.
- Discovery of the same material entered under Projects and any other writing category (with the exception of one story in Beat Writing) will result in all entries being disqualified.
Game Stories (C and D divisions only)
- Two entries per organization; one article per entry; one entry per writer. No cover letters.
- The best single game story by a single author. No series. No sidebars or supplemental material.
- If an article was published as a column but is entered in Game Stories, the judging group will have disqualification authority.
- The same article cannot be entered in Game Stories and Event Coverage.
Action Photo
- Two entries per organization; one photo per entry; no cover letters
- A photographer can be entered in this category only once.
- No cover letters.
- Judging will be done by AP photo editors.
- No galleries allowed. You must “snip” or download the individual photo and follow the instructions on the entry key.
Feature Photo
- Two entries per organization; one photo per entry; no cover letters.
- A photographer can be entered in this category only once.
- Judging will be done by AP photo editors.
- No galleries allowed. You must “snip” or download the individual photo and follow the instructions on the entry key.
