Happy New Year, APSE members! As a gift, I offer you the official 2022 contest rules and entry keys. Changes and highlights for this year’s rules were announced a few weeks ago, but here you will find more detailed instructions for how to enter and links to your organization’s entry key. If you have paid dues for 2023 and do not see your entry key here, please contact me and we’ll sort it out.

The second mandatory week for the print portfolio — the week of Sept. 19, including Sunday, Sept. 25 — was selected Dec. 31 on random.org by me and APSE president Jorge Rojas.

If you prefer a Google Doc version of the contest rules, which has an outline mode in which you can jump to the sections you need, you can find one here: https://bit.ly/3Gu93ou

Contest chair: Naila-Jean Meyers, Star Tribune (Minneapolis), 646-285-3848, apsecontest@gmail.com

ALL questions, issues, alerts, and any other needed communication before, during, and after the contest should be directed to Naila at the above contact information. 

CONTEST DEADLINE

  • All Entry Keys — Section, Writing and Digital — are due on January 17, 2023.
  • Links to each organization’s entry key are at the bottom of this article. You must pay APSE dues for 2023 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

  • Most judging will take place at the Doubletree Suites Orlando/Disney Springs on Feb. 19-23. Email APSE Conference Coordinator Glen Crevier at gncrev66@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 from Feb. 13-23. 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?

  • Daily and Sunday section categories have been combined into a print portfolio category. 
  • Once again, all organizations can enter the Special Section contest, which  will consist of two divisions: A/B and C/D.
  • In response to member suggestions in a recent survey, there are more opportunities to enter video and audio, including a new video award within the digital contest. 
  • This year the Triple Crown and Grand Slam categories will be: 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 above. The news organizations with the most top 10s will also be recognized at the 2023 awards banquet in Las Vegas. 

HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST

  • Entries will all be submitted as website links. These will all go on the entry keys provided in a Google folder, titled “Entry keys.” 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 Naila and she 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 come February.

How to fill out your entry key

  • 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 New York Times, rather than just New York Times.
    • Daily circulation/unique page views. This number should be the same one you provided us when you paid your dues.
    • A contest username and password for your website, if it is needed. This means if you have a paywall you need to provide on your entry key a contest username and password, good through March 31, 2023. Please make sure these passwords work. Much time was lost in judging last year trying to resolve website access problems. If you are unable to provide links to your website, we will provide alternate instructions. 
  • 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 different places, so it is important to include everything.
    • The name of your organization
    • A contest username and password for your website, if needed.
    • The name of the reporter or reporters credited with the story or group of stories. Please note, if more than five reporters worked on an entry, please say “staff.”
    • The link to the cover letter, when needed.
    • The headline on the story.
    • The link to the story.
  • Note: For categories with multiple stories/videos, everything listed above is the same, there are just 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.

What to do when you’re done

  • Change the status from In Progress to Completed and then notify Naila that your entry is ready by emailing apsecontest@gmail.com. Put the name of the news organization plus ENTRY COMPLETE in the subject line. Make this a fresh, new email, and not part of a chain of any earlier correspondence. Include a copy of your ENTRY KEY as an attachment. This is as a backup to your Google drive.

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 less than a page and no longer than three paragraphs. They should only explain what is not apparent in the content itself. Please refrain from sales pitches, cheerleading, and general commentary about the entrant.
  • For Beat Writing specifically, the cover letter should but does not have to describe the writer’s beat description: is the writer on that beat every day, or occasionally, such as Triple Crown and big national races, tennis slams, golf majors, etc?  Judges can weigh this factor so that entries from writers who cover a beat every day are not at a disadvantage.
  • Beat Writing cover letter must include an explanation if the breaking news entry has more than one byline or a multimedia entry prominently features another reporter.
  • Cover letters should be written as Google Docs and uploaded into the “Cover letters” folder of your organization’s entry. 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.

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. You have to choose. 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.
  • 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. 
  • Editors from newspaper chains will be asked to declare which reporters “belong” to which publications. For example, if Steve Wiseman covers Duke and the ACC for the Durham Herald-Sun and Raleigh News & Observer, the presiding editor should identify which publication he represents (probably Durham). Likewise, stories with multiple writers on a byline from different-sized publications must be entered in the highest division. If Wiseman and Scott Fowler share a dual byline, the story must be entered by the Charlotte Observer. This does not apply to contributing taglines. Editors are on their honor here. Please make time to provide a list of where writers who appear in multiple publications belong by the entry deadline.
  • Dual bylines by writers of different organizations are allowed in the single-story categories of Breaking News, Long and Short Features, and Explanatory. APSE will recognize both writers if the story finishes in the Top 10, but the home publication (with presumably the home editor) will be listed as the winner and be given the plaque/certificate. A maximum of two writers and a maximum of two publications are permitted. If the writers are from different divisions, the article must be entered in the highest category. Here’s an example of how it might look on the Top 10 list: Joe Guillen and Mark Alesia, Detroit Free Press (with Indianapolis Star)   
  • 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 Stories, Long and Short Features 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 size, and entries will be judged by division. Though the number of entrants in a division won’t be exact, the largest 25 percent of organizations will be in the A Division, the next-largest 25 percent in the B Division, the third-largest 25 percent in the C Division, and the smallest 25 percent in the D Division. Your organization’s size is based on the average daily circulation or unique monthly visitors. you provided when you paid dues.
  • All contest entries must be made in the same division. Editors wanting to compete in a larger division must notify Naila before submitting entries. Those “playing up” will be required to pay the higher dues for the higher division.
  • When one staff publishes sports sections for several papers, they are considered one paper for APSE purposes. To enter individually, these papers need to pay dues individually. Questions on your organization and how it fits in should be directed to APSE Executive Director Bill Eichenberger at billapse707@gmail.com.
  • When one staff publishes sports sections for several papers, dues must have been paid accordingly, with the combined circulation determining the divisions. If you didn’t follow this procedure when you paid dues, your contest entries are subject to disqualification. Questions about this issue should be directed to APSE Executive Director Bill Eichenberger at billapse707@gmail.com.

PRINT CONTEST 

Print Portfolio and Special Section entries are submitted on the same “sections contest” entry key in your organization’s folder. 

Print Portfolio

** NEW ** The print contest will now consist of a portfolio rather than separate daily and Sunday categories. A portfolio will consist of 5 sections from 2022: 2 dailies (1 mandatory), 2 Sundays (1 mandatory) and 1 wild card entry, which can be a daily or Sunday. “Weekend editions” that are published on Friday or Saturday are permitted as Sunday entries. If you do not have Sunday or weekend sections, please consult Naila about how to enter a portfolio.

Mandatory dates

  • Feb. 7-13: You can pick any paper from this week, including Sunday, Feb. 13.
  • Sept. 19-25. 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/weekend section from the second week.  

Entry guidelines 

  • Print section entries may include: self-contained sports sections, sports-related A1 material, sports-related material from 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 Entry Keys (in your Google folder) must be submitted by PDF. Catchers will be assigned to each section division to make sure Entry Keys are completed correctly. Here’s a tutorial that can help send sections by PDF.
  • Sample entry key: https://bit.ly/3vlEevA

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 reaction 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. Judges should look at the agate package – are there scores, statistics, standings and box scores to fit the needs of the readership within the confines of available space? 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

**NEW** News organizations may submit one special section to compete in two divisions: A/B and C/D. 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 are not eligible. The special section must have been part of the regular newspaper run. For example: Commemorative issues to mark the success of a team, a sports event (like the Olympics) or the death of a major personality; a theme section on running, fishing, hunting, auto racing, etc. 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 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.
  • How are special sections judged: Does the section have spunk? Does it 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.
  • A Top 10 in 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).
  • A story entered in a writing category can be entered as one of the five “publishing examples” in the Digital Contest.
  • **NEW ** 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. Sample entry key: https://bit.ly/3Gwl6Bx

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. So the story and the art are the furniture — photos, graphics, interactive elements, video, podcasting that’s tied to the subject matter of the story, details boxes, pull quotes 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, please).

Interactives: “Stay or Go” 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, a Reddit AMA, 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 things like 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? 
  • Freshness of content, emphasis of content, mix of content
  • Enticing headlines that draw readers in.
  • Smart related content to keep you on the site
  • 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

** NEW ** In an effort to recognize the video work of our members as suggested in a recent survey about the APSE contest, judges in this year’s digital contest 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, which is a Triple Crown category. 

NOTE OF CAUTION: 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/PHOTO CONTEST

Preliminary judges will select the top 10 stories in each group 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 final 10 will be given to a second judging group, which also will rank the stories 1-10 in the same fashion as the first group. The final judges’ ballots and the final 10 stories will be turned into the contest chair. The chair will tally all the votes awarding points in reverse order (No. 1 story gets 10 points, No. 2 gets 9, etc.). 

Remember: This is, foremost, a writing contest. While we have loosened restrictions on entering video, audio and multimedia, entries in most of the writing categories will be evaluated first on reporting skill and writing flair. 

Sample entry key: https://bit.ly/3Q8Ap6F

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 across all divisions.
  • 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. You may submit more articles as supplementary material on your entry key if you choose. The judges may read the supplementary material but are not required to. 
  • The cover letter should be less than a page and 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

  • Two entries per organization; five articles per entry; cover letter accepted.
  • 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 should consist of five pieces:
    • 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 can include a column or sidebar.
    • One enterprise piece
    • 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. 
    • **NEW** Podcasts are eligible this year, but only one episode please and the entrant must be the host or primary contributor. Enter episodes that are much longer than 30 minutes at your own risk. 
  • 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.
  • **NEW** An explanation (who did what) if a multimedia entry includes contributors other than the entrant.
  • 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 do not have to) be also 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. No supplemental materials are allowed. 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.
  • 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 based 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 live one-day cycle. A 24-hour period beginning with the first story published on the event – no preview material, please – 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. You can enter a championship game or a regular season game, the first day of a tournament or the final day, a hiring/firing/retirement or significant death — as long as you produce comprehensive and creative one-day coverage of an event that matters to your readers. Show how your staff captures big moments in the moment. 
  • There are some restrictions, though. You cannot enter Final Four weekend coverage; you can enter coverage of the semifinals OR the championship. You cannot enter one day at the Olympics, but you can enter coverage of a specific event like the women’s free skate OR the gold-medal hockey game, for example. If you have questions about what qualifies as an event, just ask Naila.
  • 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 24 hours of your first story published on a big happening for your readers. Entries may consist of content that appeared in print or digital formats. A live print special section may be entered as a PDF as supplemental material (as long as it isn’t entered in any other category), but it is advised to submit the best five elements of the section individually as judges are not required to consider supplemental material. 
  • Additional links can be included as supplemental material to show the breadth of the coverage, but will not be required reading by the judges. 
  • You cannot enter the same article in Event Coverage and any other writing category. A game story or column entered in Event Coverage cannot be entered in Beat Writing, Columns or Game Stories. 

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 for 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 allowed.
  • Entries are more than 1,500 words in A and B categories and more than 1,150 words in C and D divisions. Shorter stories can be entered.
  • 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 or Short 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 allowed.
  • Entries are 1,500 words or less in A and B categories and 1,150 words or less in C and D divisions. Entries that exceed the above length limits could be disqualified.
    • Word counts will be determined by:
      • Copying the story onto 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. The byline DOES NOT COUNT toward the word length.
  • If a story is entered in Short Feature Writing but 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 Long or 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 and 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. 
  • Entries are limited to 10 links, which can be articles, multimedia and data visualization among other story forms. Links to additional material beyond the 10 entries may be attached and read at the judges’ discretion.
  • 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 (pre-planned content that is conceived and executed as a larger body of work, not ongoing coverage of a news event or topic). A video series, in fact, won the Projects category in A Division last year. 
  • Special section material can be entered in Projects as long as it is not also entered in the special section contest. You must choose. The entire special section may be included as a PDF as supplementary material, but it is advised to submit the best elements of the section individually among the 10 entries (with links) as judges are not required to consider optional material.
  • 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. Again, you must choose. For example, you can’t take a sidebar from your project entry and enter it in Short Feature and two more pieces of an entered project and enter them in Explanatory.
  • 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 both entries being disqualified.

Game Stories (C and D only)

  • Two entries per organization; one article per entry; one entry per writer.
  • The best single game story by a single author. No series. No sidebars. No cover letters.
  • 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 Photos

  • 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 Photos

  • 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. 

ENTRY KEYS

Division A

The Advocate: https://bit.ly/3IdtNlA

The Arizona Republic: https://bit.ly/3i770x3

The Athletic: https://bit.ly/3Q1yCAe

Bay Area News Group:  https://bit.ly/3GtJ1Sm

Bleacher Report: https://bit.ly/3G3cPUm

The Boston Globe: https://bit.ly/3VyU40N

Chicago Tribune: https://bit.ly/3VD2pAu

The Dallas Morning News: https://bit.ly/3GpWGd2

Denver Post: https://bit.ly/3GRB8Gl

 Detroit Free Press: https://bit.ly/3vIYlUL

ESPN.com: https://bit.ly/3jyfb61

FloSports: https://bit.ly/3CajeMo

Houston Chronicle: https://bit.ly/3GuOgkJ

Los Angeles Times: https://bit.ly/3GsTBcf

 Miami Herald:  https://bit.ly/3vrufVM

Newsday: https://bit.ly/3i1gt9e

New York Daily News: https://bit.ly/3iuiuuN

The New York Post: https://bit.ly/3Xd5LMg

The New York Times: https://bit.ly/3G14xfH

NJ Advance Media: https://bit.ly/3Gs8wmP

Orlando Sentinel: https://bit.ly/3CI7bWE

Philadelphia Inquirer: https://bit.ly/3WOgoEE

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: https://bit.ly/3WCd8N4

San Francisco Chronicle: https://bit.ly/3C9Nd77

The Seattle Times: https://bit.ly/3VwgvDJ

South Florida Sun Sentinel:  https://bit.ly/3I8Qg3h

Southern California News Group: https://bit.ly/3CaOMBz

Sports Illustrated (SI.com): https://bit.ly/3GtwUVc 

Star Tribune: https://bit.ly/3WznDRa

Tampa Bay Times: https://bit.ly/3vrVjUK

USA Today: https://bit.ly/3i332pk

Washington Post: https://bit.ly/3WPbHue

The Virginian-Pilot: https://bit.ly/3IKxP55

Yahoo Sports: https://bit.ly/3CerNWn

Division B

Albany Times-Union: https://bit.ly/3jWWHMC 

Baltimore Sun:  https://bit.ly/3CcU2EO

The Blade (Toledo): https://bit.ly/3vJJdqt

The Buffalo News: https://bit.ly/3vnRMqy

The Charlotte Observer: https://bit.ly/3vmChPP

Columbus Dispatch: https://bit.ly/3CcZGqu

The Courier-Journal: https://bit.ly/3ifzYel

Florida Times-Union: https://bit.ly/3CPnSQn

Gambling.com Group: https://bit.ly/3VxKVp6

Indianapolis Star: https://bit.ly/3jBxQOj

The Kansas City Star: https://bit.ly/3IfQDJg 

KSL.com: https://bit.ly/3IgAW4N

Knoxville News-Sentinel: https://bit.ly/3GrIBeZ

 Las Vegas Review-Journal: https://bit.ly/3vrbH8g

 Lexington Herald-Leader: https://bit.ly/3jFUh57

The Oklahoman: https://bit.ly/3PZlA6t

Omaha World-Herald: https://bit.ly/3jIpB2Q

Palm Beach Post: https://bit.ly/3Q6mGNU

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: https://bit.ly/3ItzqfN 

The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC): https://bit.ly/3Z0o7Bc

Raleigh News & Observer:  https://bit.ly/3CbyZT5

The Record (Bergen County, NJ): https://bit.ly/3QdY5Xn

Richmond Times-Dispatch: https://bit.ly/3Z2eUbF

St. Louis Post-Dispatch:  https://bit.ly/3YXlr7C

St. Paul Pioneer Press: https://bit.ly/3Z2fmXp

Salt Lake Tribune: https://bit.ly/3XmKQpK

San Antonio News-Express: https://bit.ly/3XBqObb

The Star-Telegram: https://bit.ly/3i1y8h8

The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY): https://bit.ly/3Xai2k7

The Tennessean: https://bit.ly/3vrmmQ1

The Villages Daily Sun: https://bit.ly/3Q6f91l

Wisconsin State Journal: https://bit.ly/3G3s8MO

Division C

Altoona Mirror: https://bit.ly/3jBIuog

Bama Central:  https://bit.ly/3IcP6DR

Capital Gazette: https://bit.ly/3GrJqEz

Casper Star-Tribune: https://bit.ly/3CTTSmd

Champaign News-Gazette: https://bit.ly/3voEGcP

The Citizens’ Voice: https://bit.ly/3WVAoVI

The Clarion Ledger: https://bit.ly/3G1kVwJ

Columbia Tribune:  https://bit.ly/3Q9XRAv

The Commercial Appeal: https://bit.ly/3IbxtEf

The Commercial Dispatch: https://bit.ly/3Q0h4oi

The Daily Memphian: https://bit.ly/3WAo5hR 

Daytona Beach News-Journal: https://bit.ly/3VQKJBG

The Desert Sun: https://bit.ly/3vrwjwR

Florida Today: https://bit.ly/3QyswrD

Fort Myers News Press: https://bit.ly/3WJxLXc

The Free-Lance Star: https://bit.ly/3WAjRXx

GamecockCentral.com: https://bit.ly/3GVpMBd

The Gazette (Colorado Springs): https://bit.ly/3WQqIfs

 Lewiston (Ida.) Tribune: https://bit.ly/3CdaeGd

Lincoln Journal Star: https://bit.ly/3jyksdL

Naples Daily News: https://bit.ly/3WVqVOb

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal: https://bit.ly/3YVNq7D

Northwest Herald:  https://bit.ly/3VwtK7p

Peoria Journal Star: https://bit.ly/3jIiMi8

Republican-Herald (Pottsville, Pa.): https://bit.ly/3ieln2Y

Roanoke Times: https://bit.ly/3GrSRUx

 The Scranton Times-Tribune:  https://bit.ly/3vtUSJL

The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.): https://bit.ly/3ifAlWh

The Republican/MassLive: https://bit.ly/3WRt0LB 

The State (Columbia, S.C.): https://bit.ly/3hUZvcN

Sun Journal (Lewiston, Me.): https://bit.ly/3ZigWoj

Wichita Eagle: https://bit.ly/3CbaS6Z

Wilmington StarNews: https://bit.ly/3G5WIp6

Division D

Amarillo Globe-News: https://bit.ly/3k7LrNz

The Asheville Citizen-Times: https://bit.ly/3QHTE7n

Athens Banner-Herald: https://bit.ly/3Z3amSs

Capital News Service, University of Maryland: https://bit.ly/3GCKxQF

Carroll County Times: https://bit.ly/3Z2KPJe

Century Newspapers: https://bit.ly/3ijUN8z

Cherokee Tribune: https://bit.ly/3FZ1i8k

The Chronicle (Springfield, Ore.):  https://bit.ly/3vMsJOl

Corpus Christi Caller-Times: https://bit.ly/3Wwg1yI

The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, La.): https://bit.ly/3WXzYOI

The Daily News Journal (Murfreesboro, Tenn.): https://bit.ly/3Q7aXhK

Daily Record (Rockaway, NJ): https://bit.ly/3Zdsl8Y

Denton Record-Chronicle: https://bit.ly/3WZKSUp

Ellensburg Daily Record: https://bit.ly/3G8wjac

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: https://bit.ly/3WCsEbI

 Fayetteville Observer: https://bit.ly/3vprKU1

Florence Morning News: https://bit.ly/3InaPZE

Gainesville Sun:  https://bit.ly/3G8nzko

GOLONGTD.COM:  https://bit.ly/3ZhM2MM

Greenville News: https://bit.ly/3Q3ZsaS

Hattiesburg American: https://bit.ly/3iAxvvk

Idaho Statesman: https://bit.ly/3CbNvKz

JohnCanzano.com: https://bit.ly/3WM90ts 

The Jackson (Tenn.) Sun: https://bit.ly/3i4jDJs

Lawrence Journal-World: https://bit.ly/3ZyNoTl

The Leaf-Chronicle: https://bit.ly/3G6xxmb

Legacy Hockey: https://bit.ly/3X9PV4T

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: https://bit.ly/3XpJ8E3

Marietta Daily Journal: https://bit.ly/3vvUhay

 Mon Valley Independent: https://bit.ly/3WEkYFO

The Montgomery Advertiser: https://bit.ly/3VzAt0f

Muddy River Sports: https://bit.ly/3G4Hb96

Pine Belt News/Hubcityspokes.com: https://bit.ly/3X5SJ2q

PolkSports.com: https://bit.ly/3jHWInr

The Post-Star (Glen Falls, NY): https://bit.ly/3Q2Tmrw

PowerMizzou.com: https://bit.ly/3IiC73s

Rock Hill Herald: https://bit.ly/3jIWH2Z

Southwest Times: https://bit.ly/3jI7cU3

Tallahassee Democrat: https://bit.ly/3QqpPIj

TIdeIllustrated.com: https://bit.ly/3IxMssu

Topeka Capital Journal: https://bit.ly/3C6xSnR

Tuscaloosa News: https://bit.ly/3VBPUVX

Victoria Advocate: https://bit.ly/3k6QpKq

Williamsport Sun-Gazette: https://bit.ly/3G5ovps

Wyoming Tribune-Eagle: https://bit.ly/3vq70eO

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