Associated Press Sports Editors in Minneapolis during June 2025.
Associated Press Sports Editors in Minneapolis during June 2025.

By Perryn Keys

Hi everyone:

This is perhaps the busiest time of the year: WNBA just wrapped up, college basketball is just getting started, college football is more chaotic than ever, and all four major sports leagues are busy. Good times.

Your hands are full. So what better time than now to give you something else to think about? Without further ado, below are updated rules and requirements, and additions to this year’s contest.

Please note that as per usual, we’ll have a full, final version of contest rules and changes at the end of the year.

There are several changes, including the expansion of High School Beat Writing to the A and B divisions, as well as a new category, Podcasts, as well as some clarifications.

The contest has gone smoothly in recent years, thanks to strong APSE leadership and editors who submitted entries on time. I will do my best to keep that going. Also, I want to give a big thanks to those who made suggestions and provided valuable input.

Here is your early to-do list:

  • Please take a look below to get yourself up to speed.
  • Ask your writers to start thinking about their best work from this year.
  • Get a doc started with some links. You’ll need them before you know it.

The entry deadline for this year’s contest is 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13.

And remember that you must be an APSE member to enter the contest. Get that membership part out of the way now by going to  THE “JOIN APSE” PAGE.

Please let me know if you have any questions, and good luck!

Perryn Keys

 CONTEST DEADLINE

  • All three entry keys — Digital, Sections, Writing & Photo — are due by 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026.
  • Links to each organization’s entry key are at the bottom of this article. You must pay APSE dues for 2026 to enter! You can still pay dues and be eligible for the contest. Once you are paid up, your entry key will be created, added to the list below and sent to you. Pay your dues here: https://www.apsportseditors.com/become-an-apse-member/

JUDGING

  • In-person judging will take place at the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa Las Vegas, Feb. 22-26. Email APSE Conference Coordinator John Bednarowski at johnbednarowski@gmail.com, if you have questions about the winter conference. You can book your hotel room here.
  • There will also be a remote judging period ahead of and during this time. For remote judges, all questions/issues, big and small: Email apsecontest@gmail.com and put OFF-SITE JUDGING in the subject line. 
  • To RSVP for either in-person or remote contest judging, please fill out this form.

WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?

  • We will add a new category: PODCAST. More details will come with the this year’s final rules announcement, but here’s the thumbnail sketch:
    • Organizations will be allowed to submit one entry consisting of three episodes. Each entry must be from the same “show.” For example: If your organization has a Rockets podcast, a Texans podcast and an Astros podcast, you may only pick three episodes of, say, the Rockets podcast. No cross-pollination. 
    • Judges will be required to listen to and/or watch the first 12 minutes of each episode, but may consume and evaluate the entire episode if they so choose. In other words, if they choose to continue listening/watching and they catch a meltdown in the 38th minute (or a great moment in the 38th minute), it’s fair game.
    • Judging guidelines will include quality of audio and/or video, professionalism, adherence to the show format, adherence to the show topic and level of insight gained from the show.
  • A new category will be added for beat writing – high school sports – for the A and B divisions, adding to the C and D categories that were added last year. This will consist of four articles: breaking news, live event, feature or enterprise and wild card. Note: If you enter this category, you cannot enter the same person in another beat writing category for the same newsroom. 
  • The National Beat Writing category will include more narrow guidelines. Judges will be strongly encouraged to disqualify entries that are more local in nature but masquerade as national entries, thereby going against the spirit and addition of the National Beat Writing category. Examples: A Kansas football writer who submits a portfolio about Kansas-centric NIL trends, Kansas-centric coaching trends and Kansas-centric facility upgrades. Another example: A portfolio on boxing, brought forth because a few boxing events happen to have passed through Anytown USA’s local arena.
  • The time frame in Event Coverage remains 48 hours and must include the start and finish of the actual event, BUT: 1) the 48-hour window may only begin 12 hours before the start of the event, and 2) the overwhelming majority of the reporting must have been done during the 48-hour window. Judges will be encouraged to disqualify an entry if they suspect event coverage contained an overwhelming majority of pre-reporting, such as a deep profile on an athlete that happens to have competed within that 48-hour window. The entry key must list the start time for the entry.

CLARIFICATIONS

  • Each entry in Investigative must be on one topic only, not an entry that includes articles on unrelated topics.
  • Entries in all Beat Writing categories should reflect yearlong coverage from multiple angles, not swarming one big event or tournament.
  • Maximum of one story entered in a writing category can be entered as a “publishing example” in the Digital Contest, but this rule will not apply to one-person newsrooms.
  • Word counts for Long Feature and Short Feature will remain the same, but editors must provide the word count for each entry in Short Feature.
    • Long Feature: Entries are 1,401 words or more in A and B divisions and 1,101 or more words in C and D divisions. Shorter stories can be entered.
    • Short Feature: Entries are 1,400 words or fewer in A and B divisions and 1,100 words or fewer in C and D divisions. Entries that exceed the length limits could be disqualified.

TO BE CONTINUED

  • Editors again will be asked to provide a combined digital-only + print circulation to determine divisions.
  • Entries completed by multiple organizations must be entered by the largest of the organizations involved.
  • A 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. 
  • The Special Section contest again will start at two divisions – A/B and C/D – but could be increased with enough 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. One Google doc is for the writing/photo contest, one is for the digital contest and one is for the sections contest. If your entry keys are not in the folder, or somehow get lost, contact Perryn and he can provide you with a new one.
  • To enter, you must have a Google account. You’ll need this both to submit entries and to judge in person or remotely.

HOW TO COMPLETE THE ENTRY KEYS

  • Change the status at the top to “In Progress” while you are filling it out. This is to ensure nobody else grabs it before it is completed.
  • Fill out the top fields:
    • Name of Organization. Please provide the complete name, as you would like it to appear on a winner’s plaque and in stories about the winners. Example: The Minnesota Star Tribune, rather than just Minnesota Star Tribune.
    • A username and password for your website, if it is needed. This means if you have a paywall you need to provide login information that will be usable through March 31, 2026. Please make sure these passwords work. Too much time is lost in judging trying to resolve website access problems. 
    • Total daily circulation. This number will be a total of your organization’s end-of-2025 digital-only + print circulation (for those with a print component). Online-only sites should provide number of monthly unique visitors, while Substacks and newsletters will provide number of subscribers. The division you paid dues in may not match your division for the contest.
  • Completely fill out each category entry. Some of this information might seem redundant, but keep in mind that these entries will be copied and pasted to different places, so it is important to include everything.
    • The name of your organization
    • Contest username and password for your website, if needed.
    • The name of the reporter(s) credited with the story or group of stories. If more than five people worked on an entry, please say “Staff.”
    • Link to the cover letter, when needed.
    • Headline on the story.
    • Link to the story.
    • Note: For categories with multiple possible entries, everything listed above is the same; there are spaces for multiple entries.
  • Double-check your entry key. Is everything filled out correctly? Do all the links to your website work? Do all your usernames and passwords work? Are all the links to cover letters working? Have you adjusted your Google doc settings so that judges can access them? If so, you are done. 
  • More details for entering the print section and digital contests are below.

COVER LETTERS

  • Cover letters will be accepted in only Breaking News, Beat Writing and Investigative. The cover letter format for each is explained in the rules for those categories below. In general, cover letters should NOT include an overview of the writer’s skills, or year of work as a whole, or cheerleading opinion.
  • Cover letters are not allowed in Column Writing, Long Feature Writing, Short Feature Writing, Explanatory, Event Coverage or Projects.
  • Cover letters do not have a specific format but should be no longer than three paragraphs. They should explain only what is not apparent in the content itself. 
  • Cover letters should be written as Google Docs and can be uploaded into your organization’s folder (or make a copy of the cover letter template provided). Include a link to the letter in your entry key for the proper category.

Cover letter template

  • News organization: 
  • Writing category: 
  • Author: 
  • Explanation for what is not apparent in the content itself.
  • What NOT to include: an overview of the writer’s skills, or year of work as a whole, cheerleading opinion, audience/page traffic.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’RE DONE

  • Change the status from “In Progress” to “Completed” and then notify Perryn that your entry is ready by emailing apsecontest@gmail.com.
    • Make this a new email, and not part of a chain of any earlier correspondence. 
    • Put the name of the news organization plus ENTRY COMPLETE in the subject line. 
    • Include the link to your folder. 

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, except for Breaking News, where it is not allowed) 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. Also, please note: You may use a podcast as part of your Digital entry and as part of your Podcast entry.
  • 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, except for Breaking News, where it is not allowed) 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 later based on membership on Dec. 31. 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 and Special Section entries are submitted on the same “Print & Sections” entry key in your organization’s folder. 

Print Portfolio

A portfolio will consist of five total sections from 2025: 2 dailies (1 mandatory), 2 Sundays (1 mandatory) and 1 wild card entry, which can be a daily or Sunday. NOTE: Please list your daily print deadlines on the entry key. Judges will be allowed to consider print deadlines when making their judgments on how well organizations did their jobs within deadline constraints.

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 Perryn about how to enter a portfolio.

Mandatory dates

  • First mandatory date: Monday, Jan. 6 – Sunday, Jan. 12
  • Second mandatory date: TBD
  • 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 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, but this rule will not apply to one-person newsrooms.
  • 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. 
  • If you are a one-person newsroom, please denote that at the top of your entry key.

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, X threads.

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 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.”
  • Each entry in Investigative must be on one topic only, not an entry that includes articles on unrelated topics.
  • 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 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 three 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.
    • A new category will be added for beat writing – high school sports – for the C and D divisions (and possibly separated into C and D depending on the number of entries). This will replace the Game Stories category and will consist of four articles: breaking news, live event, feature and wild card. Note: If you enter this category, you cannot enter another beat writing category for the same newsroom. 
  • For all three 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.
  • Entries in all Beat Writing categories should reflect yearlong coverage from multiple angles, not swarming one big event or tournament.
  • Each entry consists of four 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 feature or enterprise story.
    • One wild-card entry, from any of the aforementioned categories or other analysis related to the beat. Multimedia can be a wild card. 
  • 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 four 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.
  • Only one entry per person per newsroom is allowed. Cannot be Person A in Entry 1, then Person A and Person B in Entry 2.
  • 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.
  • At least one article in each entry must be an opinion piece.
  • 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.”
  • The judges will consider up to five examples of event coverage, beginning with the first story published about the event. Entries may consist of content that appeared in print or digital formats.
  • The time frame in Event Coverage is 48 hours and must include the start and finish of the actual event, but the 48-hour window may begin only 12 hours before the start of the event. 
  • The overwhelming majority of the reporting must have been done during the 48-hour window. Judges will be encouraged to disqualify an entry if they suspect event coverage contained an overwhelming majority of pre-reporting, such as a deep, pre-reported profile on an athlete that happens to have competed during the event.
  • The entry key must list the start time and end time for the entry.
  • 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 Perryn.
  • 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 writing category of the contest or in the Digital Contest. This rule does not apply to one-person newsrooms for Digital and Event Coverage. If you’re a one-person newsroom, anything you enter in Event coverage or Digital cannot be entered in any other writing category. But you can use the same content in Event Coverage and Digital.
  • Event coverage done by multiple sites must be entered by the highest-circulation newspaper of all newsrooms involved.

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 1,401 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 1,400 words or fewer in A and B divisions and 1,100 words or fewer in C and D divisions.
  • Editors must provide the word count for each entry. Entries that exceed the 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; 1-5 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 five 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.

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. 

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