As we prepare to meet at the 2018 APSE Summer Conference in Nashville June 17-20, here are some proposals regarding contest realignment that we will be discussing during the opening meeting.
We feel these proposals are the next necessary steps in keeping our contest the elite one in sports journalism.
If you have concerns about the proposals, voice them at the meeting, or contact incoming APSE president John Bednarowski directly at jbednarowski@gmail.com
CONTEST DIVISIONS
Four “equal” divisions based on circulation, renamed Group A, B, C and D.
Based on the directory, we currently have 206 full-member organizations – 103 of which are 30,000 or fewer circulation.
This year, the numbers fall this way:
Group A will have 52 members — 100,000 and over
Group B will have 51 members — 30,001-99,999
Group C will have 52 members — 15,001-30,000
Group D will have 51 members — under 15,000
The alignment will be reviewed each year, with the objective of always making four equal groups.
Under this plan, we eliminate what is now the sub-category (under 15,000 circulation) in the small-paper section contest.
(See below the remainder of the proposals to learn how the current member publications would fall in circulation order.)
Considerations were made to possibly determine contest divisions by a different formula, be it page views or staff size. However, anything other than circulation at this point remains too subjective. Page views run into problems with pay walls, and staff size is difficult with the rise of design hubs, contract labor, interns and so forth.
CONTEST CATEGORY UPDATES
Eliminate redactions.
Many of the categories already have digital components that cannot be redacted. Also, by eliminating the practice, we can rethink the way the contest is put together – for instance, we will be able to accept links for stories rather than have editors place stories into individual Google docs. It would also eliminate much of the officers’ work in preparing the entries to be judged.
VIDEO
Combine short and long video into one category. News organizations are allowed two entries apiece.
After breaking out video from multimedia in 2015, the average number of long videos in the contest has continued to dwindle. Last year, we changed the length to over 5 minutes, and we received 10 or fewer entries in three of the four classifications.
BEAT WRITING
Entries will now have four mandatory elements: live-event story (gamer/analysis, breaking news, enterprise) and a digital component – a blog, video, multimedia etc. We will reduce the number of wild-card elements from two to one.
COLUMN WRITING – The number of columns per entry will be reduced from five to four.
This will eliminate on average 50 columns that preliminary judges have to read but will still offer a fair sample of a columnist’s work.
PHOTO CONTEST
We want to entertain discussion about a possible photo contest. There are very few national contests for sports photography. Also, many sports reporters already have to take their own photographs.
A potential photo contest or category could bring in new members from current staffs, or we could offer a potential associate membership for those wanting to join just to compete in the contest.
Initially, we’d look at having one large photo contest with three categories: portfolio, sports action and sports feature. If we have enough entries going forward, we can then look at splitting them into divisions like the writing contest.
Divisions for 2018 APSE Contest
Website*
Division A
ESPN.com* 85,000,000
Bleacher Report* 40,000,000
Yahoo Sports* 7,000,000
MassLive.com* 4,000,000
Flosports* 3,600,000
FanRag Sports* 2,200,000
Undefeated* 2,000,000
CBSSports.com* 1,000,000
Wall Street Journal 2,379,000
N.Y. Times 2,134,000
USA Today 958,785
Los Angeles Times 800,000
Alabama Media Group 618,000
Washington Post 450,000
Newsday 400,000
The Dallas Morning News 372,001
Houston Chronicle 360,251
Detroit Free Press 300,000
Southern California News Group 300,000
Minneapolis Star-Tribune 275,000
NJ Advance Media 250,000
Miami Herald 250,000
Baltimore Sun 250,000
Boston Globe 250,000
San Jose Mercury News 250,000
Chicago Tribune 245,000
New York Daily News 236,537
Tampa Bay Times 180,091
San Diego Union-Tribune 180,000
The Denver Post 170,000
Cleveland Plain Dealer 170,000
The Arizona Republic 163,267
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 161,630
The Seattle Times 155,000
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 150,000
Philadelphia Inquirer 150,000
Charlotte Observer 140,000
Buffalo News 130,000
Atlanta Journal Constitution 126,000
The Tennesseean 125,000
South Florida Sun Sentinel 120,000
The Kansas City Star 120,000
The Oklahoman 113,000
The Oregonian/Oregon Live 110,000
Cincinnati Enquirer 108,000
Omaha World-Herald 107,085
The Virginian-Pilot 107,000
St. Louis Post-Dispatch 105,000
Richmond Times-Dispatch 103,000
Orlando Sentinel 100,000
The Detroit News 100,000
Boston Herald 100,000
Divison B
Inside Carolina* 500,000
Outsports* 311,000
The Indianapolis Star 97,014
Louisville Courier-Journal 95,000
Syracuse Media Group 90,000
Fort Worth Star-Telegram 90,000
Times Picayune/NOLA.com 80,000
Las Vegas Review Journal 80,000
Dayton Daily News 78,002
The Des Moines Register 75,000
Daily Herald (IL) 75,000
The News and Observer 75,000
The Post and Courier (SC) 68,000
San Antonio Express-News 67,000
Chattanooga Times Free Press 65,000
The Times Media Company (IN) 65,000
Wisconsin State Journal 65,000
The Spokesman Review 61,465
Digital First Media/Michigan 60,000
Florida Times Union 60,000
Tulsa World 60,000
The Providence Journal 60,000
The Villages Daily Sun 55,000
Daytona Beach News Journal 55,000
The Gazette (CO) 53,000
Commercial Appeal 50,000
Daily Press (VA) 50,000
The Press Democrat (CA) 50,000
The Register Guard (OR) 50,000
Lexington Herald-Leader 47,500
Toledo Blade 47,000
Penn Live/Patriot News 46,404
The Roanoke Times 45,700
The Daily Advertiser (LA) 45,675
Knoxville News Sentinel 45,000
The State (SC) 45,000
Washington Times 45,000
Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday 42,000
Peoria Journal Star 42,000
Canton Repository 41,989
Lincoln Journal Star 40,000
The News Press (FL) 40,000
News & Record (NC) 40,000
Columbia Missourian 39,000
The Journal Gazette (IN) 38,000
Times Union (NY) 37,000
The Free Lance Star 36,000
The Scranton Times-Tribune 36,000
Green Bay Press-Gazette 35,000
South Bend Tribune 33,900
New Orleans Advocate 32,000
Group C
Gamecockcentral.com* 175,000
Powermizzou.com* 100,000
The Rebel Walk* 100,000
Elite Sports* (GA) 40,000
Pantherflair.com* 30,000
GoPowercat.com* 25,000
Inside Football* (NJ) 20,000
Tider Insider* 20,000
Idaho Statesman 30,000
The Bakersfiled Californian 30,000
Northwest Herald 30,000
Williamsport Sun-Gazette 30,000
Marin Independent Journal 30,000
Deseret News (UT) 30,000
The News Gazette (IL) 30,000
Casper Star Tribune 30,000
The Fayetteville Observer 30,000
Beaumont Enterprise 30,000
The Monitor (TX) 29,900
Springfield State Journal Register 29,423
Wilmington StarNews 28,700
The Desert Sun 28,000
Florence Morning News (SC) 27,891
Jackson Clarion Ledger 26,662
Pensacola News Journal 25,940
Victoria Advocate 25,405
Corpus Christi Caller-Times 25,000
Yakima Herald-Republic 23,000
Elyria Chronicle-Telegram 23,000
Daily News Record (VA) 23,000
The Post Star (NY) 23,000
The Citizens’ Voice 22,715
Dothan Eagle 22,000
Journal & Courier (IL) 21,935
Altoona Mirror (PA) 20,000
Janesville Gazette (WI) 20,000
The Tuscaloosa News 20,000
Racine Journal Times 20,000
The Daily Courier (AZ) 20,000
Sun Journal (ME) 19,500
Bryan-College Station Eagle 19,117
Savannah Morning News 19,362
The Herald Times (IN) 18,000
TimesDaily (AL) 18,000
The Topeka Capital-Journal 17,232
Grand Forks Herald 17,200
Gaston Gazette (NC) 17,000
Midland Reporter-Telegram (TX) 17,000
Sauk Valley Media (IL) 17,000
Santa Cruz Sentinel 16,000
Daily Hampshire Gazette 16,000
The Coloradoan 16,000
Group D
Tucson Local Media 15,000
San Angelo Standard-Times 15,000
Napa Valley Register 15,000
Decatur Daily (AL) 15,000
Hickory Daily Record (NC) 15,000
Burlington Times-News (NC) 15,000
The Herald (SC) 15,000
Mail Tribune (OR) 15,000
The Herald Bulletin 15,000
The Daily Progress (VA) 14,400
The Sentinel (PA) 14,000
The Hawk Eye 14,000
Wyoming Tribune Eagle 14,000
Aiken Standard 14,000
The Gadsden Times (AL) 14,000
Daily American Republic (MO) 13,000
Rocky Mount Telegram (NC) 12,000
Lawrence World Journal 12,000
Daily Record (NJ) 11,717
Marietta Daily Journal 11,500
Aberdeen American News 11,200
Dalton Daily Citizen 10,500
The Manhattan Mercury (KS) 10,000
Kennebec Journal (ME) 10,000
The Daily Targum (NJ) 10,000
Idaho State Journal 10,000
Steamboat Pilot and Today 10,000
Opelika-Auburn News (AL) 9,900
Ames Tribune 9,500
Jackson Sun (TN) 9,100
Jacksonville Daily News (NC) 9,000
Denton Record-Chronicle 9,000
St. Tammany Farmer (LA) 8,500
Daily Chronicle (IL) 8,000
Durham Herald-Sun (NC) 8,000
The Leaf Chronicle (TN) 8,000
The Oklahoma Daily 8,000
The Daily News Journal (TN) 7,500
Chillicothe Gazette (OH) 7,400
Mon Valley Independent (PA) 7,000
West Bend Daily News (WI) 6,500
Columbia Missourian 5,723
The Sheridan Press (WY) 5,000
Laramie Boomerang (WY) 5,000
Alexander City Outlook (AL) 4,500
Cherokee Tribune (GA) 4,500
The Morning Sun (MI) 3,000
Bottineau Courant 3,000
Highlands Current (NY) 3,000
Selma Kingsburg Enterprise Reporter 3,000
Ashland Daily Tidings (OR) 2,000
