win awards

25 Ways to Build an Award-Winning Newspaper

Rachele KanigelSan Francisco State University

rkanigel@gmail.com

Why should you care about awards?They•Boost staff morale•Help you land jobs and internships•Attract staffers to your newspaper•Help establish your newspaper’s credibility•May keep critical administrators at bay

To win awards you must:

•Put out a great publication•Innovate•Be a leader•Be bold and creative

and …..

ENTER CONTESTS!

1. Train your staff

• Train staffers in all aspects of putting out the newspaper -- design, photography, online, writing, reporting, editing.

• Incorporate team-building and leadership-development exercises.

• Invite professionals from the local media to lead sessions.

2. Network with the pros• Join professional organizations like SPJ, ACES,

NAHJ, NABJ, IRE, NPPA, local press clubs and other organizations (many offer discounts to students)

• Host professional meetings• Attend professional conventions and

conferences

3. When news breaks pull out all the stops

• Prepare your staff for a big story• Think about multiple angles• Think beyond a single story -- plan for

sidebars, multiple stories, graphics, photos

4. Use public records

Hunt for:•Lawsuits•Accreditation reports•Police records•Audit reports

An investigative story by The Daily at the University of Washington on the university president’s salary helped the newspaper win a Pacemaker in 2010

5. Teach your reporters to mine their sources.

• The best stories come from live sources, not public information officers or press releases

• Have reporters cover beats• Train them how to develop sources

6. Beef up your online edition

• Post Web-exclusive content• Break news online• Create photo galleries• Publish documents related to stories

After the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech the Collegiate Times published a police report on an earlier incident involving the man who shot 32 people on campus.

7. Make use of new technology

• Social media• Live blogging• Multimedia slide shows• Video• Interactive graphics

8. Think about a redesign

If your paper is looking tired, consider a new look.

Look at design books, magazines, other newspapers for inspiration.

Striking, innovative design helps El Don at Santa Ana College win Pacemaker awards year after year

9. Take a stand • Fight -- and write -- for what you

believe in • Back up a strongly worded opinion

piece with facts• Make a compelling argument

10. Look for the unusual

Writers, photographers and multimedia producers should always be on the lookout for the fresh angle, the unusual story

Nathan Lau of San Francisco State University won a College Photographer of the Year award for this unusual sports action shot

11. Push projectsGo beyond day-to-day coverage with:• Special projects• Series• Special sections• Enterprise stories

Golden Gate Xpress at San Francisco State University won a Pacemaker in 2010, a year when the paper ran a number of projects.

12. Package stories well Use:• Display type• Graphics• Sidebars • A logo• Info boxes

13. Set up an investigative team

• Send the team to an IRE conference for training, ideas and inspiration.

• Invite an investigative reporter from the local media to act as a mentor

• Bring in experts to speak about public records searches and computer-assisted reporting.

14. Encourage specialty reporting

Look for specialty reporting contests from:• Religion Newswriters Association• Institute for Humane Studies• National Lesbian and Gay Journalists

Association• Fund for American Studies

15. Develop your talent Don’t let your best

reporters,photographers, designers, editorial cartoonists and columnists settle for being just the best on your staff.

Urge them to go the extra mile to become the best in the state -- or the nation.

16. Dare to be different

The professional press may not be able to afford to go out on a limb. You can.

16. Pay attention to ledes

Busy judges often make snap decisions in the first paragraph of a story. If your lede doesn’t grab them, they may not read any further.

17. Sweat the small stuff

Pay attention to details large and small. Misspelled words, headlines that don’t make sense and punctuation errors can put you in the reject pile before you can say “Oops!”

18. Be creative

Try a new approach. Don’t let yourself get hemmed in by

tradition or template.

The Indiana Daily Student won first place for Editorial/Opinion Page in the Best of Collegiate Design contest in 2009 for this opinion page.

19. Review the competitionLook at previous winners from thecompetitions you enter. Read judges’notes. Analyze what made the winningpieces succeed.

20. If you’ve got a good story, tell it

Use personal experiences to craft compelling narratives.

Thor Nystrom of the University Daily Kansan won a Rolling Stone magazine award for a first-person account of his struggle with ADHD and mental illness

Caitlin Johnson of Indiana University won a Hearst award for an opinion piece on her brother’s service in Iraq and Afghanistan

21. Tell important storiesLook for meaty stories with impact and

depth.Recent winners of ACP Story of the Year

and Hearst awards covered such issues as undocumented immigrants, date rape, homelessness, sexual assault

22. Plan to competeAt the beginning of each term obtain orcreate a list of the major state andnational competitions and theirdeadlines. Write the deadlines on yourcalendar.

23. Put someone in charge of contests

Make sure that a person or committee announces competitions at least a month before the deadline. Don't leave this to the last minute -- postmark deadlines are usually strict!

24. Hand out your own awards

Don't wait for the outside world to give your staff recognition. Honor your own staff. And don’t wait for the end of the term; do it weekly.

25. Enter contests

Remember, if you don’t enter you can’t win.