• The postmark deadline has passed for the 2024 IJEA Yearbook Contest! Books were to be mailed and entry forms submitted by Oct. 15. Please contact us if you ran into any problems or have questions!
  • A big thank you to everyone who attended our 2024 Fall Conference, which took place Sept. 20 at Illinois State University. The sessions were amazing! Thank you to all of our presenters! Now let's get ready for contest season!
  • High school seniors! Get your portfolios ready for the 2025 Illinois Journalist of the Year Contest! Entries will be due Feb. 15.
  • Advisers! Join IJEA today! Annual memberships and lifetime memberships are available. Use our online form or fillable PDF to join!
Illinois Journalism Education Association, 2501 Chatham Road, Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62704

Illinois JEA
Illinois Journalism Education Association, 2501 Chatham Road, Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62704

Illinois JEA
Illinois Journalism Education Association, 2501 Chatham Road, Suite 200, Springfield, IL 62704

Illinois JEA

How This Contest Is Organized

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Thank you for your interest in IJEA’s Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest. The following information provides an overview of this year’s competition. Please note that this is a not a yearbook competition. For yearbook staffs, we hold a separate contest each November.


ELIGIBILITY WINDOW
Your students’ work will be eligible for the 2021 contest if it was published any time from March 30, 2020, to March 15, 2021. The eligibility window includes work published on March 30, 2020, or on March 15, 2021.


DEADLINE
All submissions must be received via our online entry forms by 11:59 p.m. March 15, 2021. No hard-copy submissions will be accepted.


NUMBER OF ENTRIES
Your publication may submit two entries per category, with the exception of the Best Website category, which calls for only one entry per online publication. Entries are explained in greater detail below in the section titled “ENTRIES AND ENTRY LIMITS.”


FEES
The amount you will owe depends on your IJEA membership status and whether your students competed in our Yearbook Contest, which is held annually in November.

WE DO NOT CHARGE A FEE PER ENTRY, ONLY A ONE-TIME CONTEST FEE.

This fee is WAIVED if your students did not compete in the Yearbook Contest in November of the current school year.

In summary:

  • You will owe nothing if you are already an IJEA member and your students did not compete in our Yearbook Contest. (We define “your students” as any students you are responsible for advising.) You will continue to owe nothing no matter how many entries your publication submits in this competition,
  • You will owe $10 if you are already an IJEA member but your students did compete in the Yearbook Contest. You will not owe anything beyond $10 no matter how many entries your publication submits in this competition.
  • You will owe $25 if you are not yet an IJEA member. This $25 is our membership fee, which will also cover your fee for this contest. You will not owe anything beyond $25, no matter how many entries your publication submits. The membership requirement is explained in greater detail below in the section titled “IJEA MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENT FOR ADVISERS.”


KEY FEATURES OF OUR CONTEST

1. Our contest submission process is entirely online.
You and your students do not have to mail in hard copies of your submissions. We made this change in 2016 to reduce the amount of time and work involved in preparing individual entries. No more cutting and pasting!

2. Print items will be submitted as PDFs and digital items as URLs.
This will allow us to create high-quality online galleries of award-winning entries, which in turn will enhance the educational value of our contest. You and your students will be able to gain inspiration and ideas from the best work of other IJEA publications.

3. The number of contest categories reflects the variety of journalism in the digital age.
Our contest features 30 categories in which your students may compete, a major increase from earlier years when we focused almost exclusively on print journalism. We made the change so we could recognize, reward and further encourage the greater variety of student journalism being produced in the age of digital media.

4. Contest categories are organized into three groups: “Core,” “Print” and “Digital.”
Core categories are open to entries from all media, both print and digital. Print categories are open to entries from print-only publications and print versions of hybrid publications (i.e., publications that appear in both print and online formats). Digital categories are open to entries from online-only publications and online versions of hybrid publications. These groupings allow different types of publications to zero in on the categories they are best suited to enter.

5. “Best Publication” honors have expanded.
Traditionally we awarded “Best Overall Newspaper” certificates to the top three point-scoring publications in each enrollment division. We have continued to do that under the revised title of “Best Overall Publication.” But we also recognize the top publications according to media format: Best Print Publication certificates for the top three print-only publications in each division; Best Digital Publication certificates for the top three online-only publications in each division; and Best Hybrid Publication certificates for the top three print/online hybrids in each division. These awards ensure that representatives of each type of publication will receive recognition for doing well in our contest.

 

CONTEST SUBMISSION PROCESS AT A GLANCE

To compete in the IJEA Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest, follow these two steps:

  • Step One: Complete an Adviser Information Form (available here). Submit this form only once, regardless of how many categories your students compete in.
  • Step Two: Use our online entry forms (available on this page) to submit your students’ work. Submit print items as PDFs and digital items as URLs.


IJEA MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENT FOR ADVISERS
You must be an IJEA member for your students’ work to be eligible for this contest. Membership becomes effective only when we receive payment of your membership fee. Simply filling out and submitting a membership form does not make you a member. If you are not a member at the time you submit your students’ entries, you will have a seven-day grace period in which to join. We must receive your membership form and your $25 membership fee within seven days of receiving your contest entries for your students to be eligible. To join IJEA, complete and submit our online membership form or our PDF membership form. In either case, mail your $25 membership fee to:

Jenn Galloy, IJEA Treasurer
7405 Kenicott Lane
Plainfield, IL 60586

All necessary payment instructions are included in both the online and PDF membership forms.


ENROLLMENT DIVISIONS
To help ensure fair competition and meaningful results, our contest assigns publications to divisions based on school enrollment. Publications compete against other publications within the same enrollment division. The exact configuration of the divisions will change from year to year depending on the number of publications that enter the contest and the size of their respective school populations.


TYPES OF PUBLICATIONS
This contest invites submissions from three types of non-yearbook publications:

  1. Print-only publications (newspapers or newsmagazines).
  2. Digital-only publications (websites or online hosting platforms, such as YouTube or Vimeo channels).
  3. Hybrid publications (publications that appear in both print and digital versions).

Note to broadcast advisers: If you advise a school TV station, radio station or broadcast program that does not have its own website or does not partner with another student media site from your school, you may still enter your students’ work in the appropriate multimedia categories. You may do this as long as your students’ work is available online at a URL associated with your station or program. For example, you may enter your students’ work if it is available on a digital platform designated to host files from your station or program, such as a YouTube channel or a SoundCloud account. Your students’ multimedia work may also be entered if it is available on your school’s official website. But please note: We will not accept the uploading of actual video or audio files as part of your entries; only URLs will be accepted.


CATEGORIES AND CATEGORY DESCRIPTIONS
Our contest features 30 categories in which students may compete. These categories allow us to recognize and reward the great variety of student journalism being produced in the age of digital media. We also hope the categories will encourage further innovation and risk-taking by student journalists and their advisers.

The 30 categories are divided into three types:

  • Core categories
    These consist of 20 categories open to entries from all media, both print and digital. Category descriptions can be found here.
  • Print categories
    These consist of five categories open to entries from print-only publications and print versions of hybrid publications. Category descriptions can be found here.
  • Digital categories
    These consist of five categories open to entries from digital-only publications and online versions of hybrid publications. Category descriptions can be found here.


AWARDS AND POINTS
Each enrollment division offers all 30 categories, with first-, second- and third-place division winners chosen in each category. So, for example, if this year’s contest has four enrollment divisions, there will be four separate first-place winners in the Best News Story category, four separate second-place winners, etc. Honorable-mention awards are given at the judges’ discretion. All award winners will receive certificates.

For purposes of determining the top publications in each division, a first-place entry in any category will count as five points, a second-place entry as four points, a third-place entry as three points and an honorable-mention entry as one point.


BEST PUBLICATION HONORS
The top three point-scoring publications in each division will receive certificates indicating first, second or third place for Best Overall Publication within their respective divisions.

In addition, certificates will be awarded to each division’s top three print-only publications (Best Print Publication), top three digital-only publications (Best Digital Publication) and top three hybrids (Best Hybrid Publication).

To illustrate how this would work, consider a scenario in which the top three point-scoring publications in a division are a hybrid (with the highest score), a print-only newspaper (second highest) and a digital-only website (third highest). In that scenario, the hybrid would win first place in its division for Best Overall Publication and first place for Best Hybrid Publication. The print-only newspaper would win second place in its division for Best Overall Publication and first place for Best Print Publication. The digital-only website would win third place in its division for Best Overall Publication and first place for Best Digital Publication.

The scoring for the three types of publications will be done as follows:

  • Print-only publications may compete in all 20 core categories and all five print categories. A print-only publication’s combined score from all 25 of its categories will be used to determine its standing in the competitions for Best Overall Publication and Best Print Publication.
  • Digital-only publications may compete in all 20 core categories and all five digital categories. A digital-only publication’s combined score from all 25 of its categories will be used to determine its standing in the competitions for Best Overall Publication and Best Digital Publication.
  • Hybrid publications may compete in all 20 core categories. In addition, their print versions may compete in all five print categories, and their digital versions may compete in all five digital categories. A hybrid publication’s combined score from all 30 categories will be used to determine its standing in the competitions for Best Overall Publication and Best Hybrid Publication. For more information about hybrid entries, see “ENTRY LIMITS ON HYBRID PUBLICATIONS” below.


ENTRIES AND ENTRY LIMITS
Each publication may submit two entries per category, with the exception of the Best Website category, which calls for only one entry per site. A publication may submit the same item as an entry in multiple categories, with the following exceptions:

  1. The same article may not be entered in both the Best News Story and Best In-Depth News Story categories.
  2. The same article may not be entered in both the Best Feature Story and Best Personality Profile categories.
  3. The same article may not be entered in both a News category and a Features category.
  4. The same article may not be entered in both a Sports category and a News, Features or Opinion category.
  5. The same photo may not be entered in both the Best Sports Photo and Best News or Feature Photo categories.
  6. The same infographic may not be entered in both the Best Infographic and Best Alternative Storytelling categories.

These exceptions are intended to encourage a greater variety of submissions. Beyond these exceptions and the restrictions on hybrids noted below, publications are free to submit the same item in as many categories as they believe are appropriate. Judges have the discretion to exclude an entry if they determine it does not fit the category in which it is entered. To avoid any doubt about whether an entry is appropriate for a particular category, be sure to read the category descriptions. Core categories are described here, print categories here and digital categories here.


ENTRY LIMITS ON HYBRID PUBLICATIONS
If you advise a hybrid publication, keep in mind the following restrictions:

  • When competing in a CORE category, a hybrid may submit a print version or a digital version of the same item, but it may not submit both versions in the same category. For example, if a hybrid publication has published both an online version and a print version of the same news story, it may submit either version for Best News Story but not both.
  • When competing in a CORE category, a hybrid publication as a whole may submit only two items per category. That is, it may submit two print items or two digital items or one of each per CORE category, but it may not submit more than two items overall in a single category. In other words, a hybrid publication’s print version and digital version may not compete as separate entities in CORE categories, and they may not submit two entries each per CORE category.

These exceptions are intended to encourage a greater variety of submissions and to prevent hybrids from gaining an additional advantage from their dual platforms. Beyond these exceptions and the restrictions noted above in “ENTRIES AND ENTRY LIMITS,” hybrids are free to submit the print and digital versions of the same item in as many different categories as they believe are appropriate. For example, a hybrid may submit the print version of a news story as an entry in a core category (such as “Best News Story”) and as an entry in a print category (such as “Best Single-Page Story Package”), and it may also submit the digital version of that same story as an entry in a digital category (such as “Best Multimedia Story Package”).

As always, judges have the discretion to exclude an entry if they determine it does not fit the category in which it was submitted. To avoid any doubt about whether an entry is appropriate for a particular category, be sure to read the category descriptions. Core categories are described here, print categories here and digital categories here.


SUBMISSION OF ENTRIES
All entries must be submitted online. Submit print items as PDFs and digital items as URLs. (For detailed instructions, see “How to Submit Entries.”)


DEADLINE REMINDER
All submissions must be received online by 11:59 p.m. March 15 of the 2020-21 school year. To avoid last-minute problems, we recommend that you try a test submission well before the deadline. You are welcome to submit a test entry so long as it is clearly labeled as such and is limited to one submission.


ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS
We will do everything possible to make sure the results of the contest are announced shortly before or after the IHSA state journalism final is held, which usually occurs in late April. If that is not possible (because, for example, our contest deadline was extended to give more schools a chance to compete), we will announce the results by the end of the first week in May at the latest. All advisers of publications that enter our contest will be notified of the results by email. The results will also be posted on IJEA’s website. Award certificates will be mailed to the advisers of winning students.


DISPLAY OF WINNING ENTRIES
Submission of an entry represents permission to display the entry on the IJEA website if it wins first, second or third place or honorable mention.


QUESTIONS
If you have questions about the contest, please contact IJEA board member and contest administrator Dave Porreca, CJE, at [email protected].

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How This Contest Is Organized