By Tommy Deas
Executive Sports Editor
The Tuscaloosa News
APSE Third Vice President
Judging for the section, writing and multimedia contest will take place at the APSE Winter Meetings, which will be held March 1-5 in Indianapolis.
If you haven’t ever been involved in judging this contest, or haven’t done so in a while, I hope you will give it serious consideration. You can get details about entering the contest here and details on booking a room and pay dues here.
Judging this contest has made me a better sports editor: I can see how our work stacks up against the best in the business, gleam story and design ideas and have the opportunity to ask other sports editors how they do things and how they could be applied to our shop.
Before I ever judged this contest, I would often wonder why this story or that story from our paper didn’t get recognition. I knew we had done good work, but I hadn’t been part of the process to see whether it was truly among the best. Having served as a judge for several years now, I have learned so much about how little differences in reporting breaking news or in writing a feature or putting together an enterprise project can separate the very good from the very best. I have seen the best in sports journalism year by year and seen what our writers, copy editors and page designers can do to make our product better.
Having been a part of judging numerous other sports writing and section contests of a state or regional or sport-specific nature, and I can tell you that the level of scrutiny in judging and the level of discussion among judges over what makes the cut and what doesn’t in the APSE contest is the highest anywhere. By learning how to judge from my APSE peers, I have become a better judge of the work our sports department staff does, and how to improve it.
My experience has been that everyone who takes part in judging, whether from a small news organization like the one that employs me or from the largest news organizations in the country, has an equal say and voice in APSE judging. Everyone who takes part has earned his or her seat and is welcomed to the process.
I hope to see you there.
