APSE contest: Time for an online component!

I know everyone hates APSEloser (who, truth be told, is actually a two-time APSE winner but not a fan of the contest or the organization). But answer APSEloser this:

How can a journalism contest these days have any credibility without an online component? With many major metro sports sections now a shell of what they once were, the daily, Sunday and even special section competition aren't going to be nearly as competitive as even last year's.

But an online competition would be. Say what you want about declining sports sections — yes, APSEloser's included — but there are a lot of newspapers doing great work online. I won't name names but I will say this: There are some in the under-40 category whose sites are richer and more continuously updated than those of even the 250-and-above crowd. But I suppose you'd still have to judge them by newspaper circulation, or web traffic, or some means to separate the sites that have an army working on them vs. the one-man operations.

Please spare me with the "there's no way to do it" copout, which I heard time and again at judging the last time I was there. Of course there is. How bout this: Instead of SEs spending a day golfing, playing cards and talking about initiatives that will be forgotten as soon as they leave California or Florida — while their assistants are back home doing all the work — lock the schleps in a room for half a day until they come up with a solution.

One option: pick any 4 days out of the year, not tell anyone, then have a few panels judge them remotely.

 

Why do you refer to yourself in the third person?

 

GBNF doesn't know but GBNF likes it.

 

I don't think you're going to get website judging out of APSE; for one thing, on your idea, if it's randomly picked and the sites don't know, how are they going to decide which websites to judge on those four days? Are they going to judge every single APSE member website? Or the ones who want to be judge? Or what ...?

On the other side, I think standalone websites who are APSE members should be part of the writing contest. Based on who I suspect are members, they'd simply be placed in the over-250000 category. Or else have their own category.

As for the characterization of what is done at judging -- which is a lot of work -- well, the source of that kind of says it all.

 

I think this is right on, SF. I know a lot of folks are anti-contests, but just because someone worked on something for a web site (that isn't part of a paper product) doesn't make it any less worthy of being quality journalism and should be able to be considered for the same honors.

 

the ship is making "glug, glug" noises. TP doesn't give a shit about adding new categories.

 

TP believes those pills are vital to moddy's existence.

 

Wow! Afraid to say this, but i couldn't agree more with TP.

 

and yet TP and riddick weren't simultaneously struck by lightning ... imagine that.

 

Well, SF_Express thinks ...

Ah, I'm just no good at it.

 

I think the online component should be that the judging should be able to take place online so newspapers that are hemmorhaging money don't have to spend thousands of dollars so their sports editors can attend this joke of a conference.

If someone told me about SEs who have decided to skip the conference so they can save money, my opinion of that SE would skyrocket.

That's from someone who has won a handful of APSEs. There are a thousand more important things than this stupid fucking contest.