IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest
Click Here to Access the 2025 Contest Platform
(Link will be posted in February 2025)
Deadline for 2025 IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Contest:
10:59 p.m. Saturday, March 15, 2025
How to Enter the 2025 Contest
STEP 1: Fill Out and Submit the Adviser Information Form
This is the same form we’ve used for the last several years.
STEP 2: Use Our Contest Platform to Submit Your Entries (This link will become active in February 2025)
Please consult this page for instructions and screenshots on how to use the platform. The same instructions (minus screenshots) can be found in the “SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS” section when you arrive at the platform homepage. The instruction section is located in the lower left corner of the contest platform homepage.
IMPORTANT: If the contest platform does not currently list your school as one of the contestants, please contact Dave Porreca at [email protected], and he will add your school right away.
How to Use the Contest Platform
Instructions and screenshots explaining how to use the contest platform are available here. PLEASE CONSULT THIS PAGE if you are unfamiliar with the BNC platform. The instructions and screenshots will answer almost any question you might have about using the platform.
Once you arrive at the contest platform, the same instructions (minus screenshots) are contained in a section titled “SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS,” located in the lower left corner of the contest platform homepage.
Contest Categories
Our 30 categories are organized into three main types: Core (open to all publications), Digital (open to digital-only publications or digital versions of hybrid publications) and Print (open to print-only publications or print versions of hybrid publications).
Descriptions of the contest categories are available at these links:
• Core Categores (20)
• Digital Categories (5)
• Print Categories (5)
If your publication was designed as a print publication but was not actually printed and was instead distributed as a PDF only, please consider yourself a print publication for this contest.
Deadline for Entries | March 15, 2025
The deadline for this year’s contest submissions will be 10:59 p.m. Central Time on Saturday, March 15, 2025. With respect to that deadline, the new platform will automatically cease accepting entries at that time, so deadline extensions will no longer be possible as they were in previous years.
Eligibility Window | March 16, 2024, to March 15, 2025
To be eligible for the 2025 contest, your students’ work must have been published between March 16, 2024, and March 15, 2025. The 2025 eligibility window includes work published on March 16, 2024, and on March 15, 2025.
Contest Entry Fee | $20 per School
We charge a one-time contest entry fee of $20 for all participating schools. IJEA contest fees are no longer waived. But please note that this is a one-time flat fee. We DO NOT charge a fee for each individual entry.
IJEA Membership Requirement
Advisers, please note: In order to enter your students’ work in the 2025 contest, you must be a 2024-25 member of IJEA. Membership dues are $25 per year or a one-time fee of $250 for a lifetime membership.
To join IJEA, please complete and submit our online membership form OR our fillable PDF form. In either case, mail your yearly or lifetime membership fee to:
Susan Bookless, IJEA Treasurer
11420 West Chetlain Lane
Galena, IL 61036
All necessary payment instructions are included in both the online and PDF membership forms. For more information about IJEA membership, click here.
Contest Winners Since 2010
Congratulations to all of our winning publication staffs and advisers over the years! Our contest is dedicated to recognizing the hard work and dedication you put into telling the stories of your schools. Prior to 2011 this contest was known as the Eastern Illinois High School Press Association Newspaper Contest.
• 2023 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest (work published from March 2022 to March 2023)
— Division 1 Individual Winners
— Division 1 Best Publication Winners
— Division 2 Individual Winners
— Division 2 Best Publication Winners
— Division 3 Individual Winners
— Division 3 Best Publication Winners
— Division 4 Individual Winners
— Division 4 Best Publication Winners
— Division 5 Individual Winners
— Division 5 Best Publication Winners
• 2022 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest (work published from March 2021 to March 2022)
— Division 1 Individual Winners
— Division 1 Best Publication Winners
— Division 2 Individual Winners
— Division 2 Best Publication Winners
— Division 3 Individual Winners
— Division 3 Best Publication Winners
— Division 4 Individual Winners
— Division 4 Best Publication Winners
— Division 5 Individual Winners
— Division 5 Best Publication Winners
• 2021 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest (work published from March 2020 to March 2021)
— Division 1 Winners (with links to winning entries)
— Division 2 Winners (with links to winning entries)
— Division 3 Winners (with links to winning entries)
— Division 4 Winners (with links to winning entries)
— Division 5 Winners (with links to winning entries)
• 2020 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest (work published from March 2019 to March 2020)
— Division 1 Winners (with links to winning entries)
— Division 2 Winners (with links to winning entries)
— Division 3 Winners (with links to winning entries)
— Division 4 Winners (with links to winning entries)
— Division 5 Winners (with links to winning entries)
• 2019 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest (work published from March 2018 to March 2019)
• 2018 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest (work published from March 2017 to March 2018)
• 2017 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest (work published from March 2016 to March 2017)
• 2016 Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest (work published from March 2015 to March 2016)
• 2015 Newspaper Contest (work published from March 2014 to March 2015)
• 2014 Newspaper Contest (work published from March 2013 to March 2014)
• 2013 Newspaper Contest (work published from March 2012 to March 2013)
• 2012 Newspaper Contest (work published from March 2011 to March 2012)
• 2011 Newspaper Contest (work published from March 2010 to March 2011)
• 2010 Newspaper Contest (work published from March 2009 to March 2010)