Note from executive director Diana Hadley about Harvey and On-Site contest entries:
In the last group email I explained that at the April IHSPA Executive Board meeting the group had approved the purchase of an online contest management system for Harvey and On-Site contests. The June Harvey entries will be our first chance to test it.
All change is challenging, but Hoosier State Press Association has used this system for three years, and their director assures me that both those who enter and those who judge love it.
I have compiled all of the information for the website manager, but it could take up to two weeks to complete it on their end and have it ready for entries.
I realize many of you are ready to finish this task on your end-of-the year To-Do List, so here is what you might do at this point.
Read the categories below, select your best entries from the 2012-13 school year (just one entry per category) and save as PDF or JPEGS on a jump drive to enter online as soon as the contest website is launched.
Categories (listed below and on the attachment) will remain the same as last year. All entries must be PDFs or JPEGs and entered electronically. (No cutting, printing and filling out entry forms—everything online.)
Schools will still be divided into three classes according to enrollment, and that will be easily documented online.
If more than 3 students are involved in an entry, please list as newspaper or online staff.
Entries will remain $5.00 each but will be billed later for this first contest. That way you can close your books and not bother your bookkeepers for another check at the end of the year.
The three divisions of this competition are:
I. Online Newspapers (2 categories)
Overall Online Presence: Provide URL of the online newspaper’s website.
Multimedia Story: Provide URL of a multimedia story that covers a feature, news or sports event or subject using some combination of video, photo, audio or print to tell the story.
II. Photography (4 categories)
Spot News Photo: PDF or JPEG of a photo that provides visual representation of a newsworthy event. The photo should not be posed. Sports photos should not be entered in this category.
Feature Photo: PDF or JPEG of a photo that adds variety to news coverage, provides an interesting visual element to a story and often reflects human interest.
Sports Photo: PDF or JPEG of a photo that portrays dramatic and/or emotion or human interest from an athletic event or subject.
Photojournalism Portfolio: Three published prints with captions (all taken by the same student) and submitted as PDFs or JPEGs.
III. Newspaper (12 categories) (PDF submissions should include the page or pages of the publication that included the entry.)
News Writing: PDF submission of a news story that has a student angle. Entry should demonstrate solid reporting skills, objectivity, and appropriate writing style for news. The subject does not have to be school-related, but it should interest high school readers.
Editorial Writing: PDF submission of a statement or opinion written by the newspaper staff (no byline). Typical entries willfocus on specific observations and few generalizations about subjects that affect the high school community.
Column Writing: PDF submission of a signed (bylined) opinion piece. The category can include a review, sports topic, general observation and the writer’s personal feelings. Strong entries will reflect thoughtful analysis, tangible evidence to support the position, appropriate need for commentary, and/or impact on thesubject.
Sports Writing: PDF submission of an advance, follow-up, summary or feature story related to individual/team or recreational sports.
Feature Writing: PDF submission of a feature that can be a variety of approaches (personality profile, descriptive, in-depth, etc.) Entries should demonstrate, creativity, variety and human interest.
Advertising: PDF submission of an advertisement designed by the student(s) to sell an idea, product or service to a high school audience. Criteria for judging include artistic design, creativity and persuasive appeal.
Infographics: PDF submission of a graphic design that compiles information from a story to better communicate specifics through art, charts, graphs or other forms of visual communication. Page with both the infograph and the story should be submitted.
Cartooning: PDF of cartoon or comic strip that emphasizes editorial content and is appealing/entertaining to a high school reader.
Page Design: PDF of a single page or two-page spread that demonstrates visual impact and a sense of purpose for an appropriate, attractive design to showcase coverage.
Maestro Package: PDF story package that reflects a collaborative effort among three or more staff members. Reporters, photographers, artists or page designers have planned the reporting and design of multi-angled coverage about an event or issue.
Civic Journalism: PDF entry or entries that cover a school or community issue beyond reporting toward finding a solution. Entry can be a single story or multiple stories in different issues that show an ongoing concern or effort over several months.
Community Leadership Award: Compilation of stories that indicate the newspaper has made a positive difference in the school community through its coverage. The publication should submit PDFs of any combination of news stories, editorials, cartoons, photos, features, surveys, special broadcasts, videos, or Internet web pages to document the coverage. Entries should also include a PDF statement of 250-300 words explaining the editorial position taken by the school media and the process of finding possible solutions or choices. The submission should also include at least one letter of recommendation for the award by a school official, community leader or faculty member other than the adviser.
Feel welcome to ask questions about the categories or any aspect of the new contest system. I can also send directions to anyone who needs help putting together multiple page PDFs for the photo portfolio,civic journalism or community leadership categories.
Until later,
Diana
To download a PDF version of this information, click here 2013 Newspaper Harvey Awards.
