APSE Judging Thread

[RedHotChiliPrepper]

I read on the APSE site that results should hopefully start rolling in tomorrow. I know our job isn't defined by awards, but in a day and age of layoffs, furloughs and cutbacks of all kind, I still think awards, especially APSEs are a positive in this business.

Anyone feel like they have a shot for something for themselves or their paper? And what work did you do last year that you sent in are you particularly proud of?

 

[Rockbottom]

Everyone thinks they have a shot for themselves and their paper. Everything that got sent it had pride behind it. Those who win think, "wow, nice of them to *finally* see my brilliance!" Those who didn't win think, "**** APSE ... buncha cocksuckers giving each other reacharounds/awards".

I think that about covers it.

rb

 

[RedHotChiliPrepper]

From the APSE site:

OVER 250,000
SPECIAL SECTIONS

Top 10
Chicago Tribune
Dallas Morning News
Kansas City Star
Miami Herald
Newsday
Orlando Sentinel
Philadelphia Daily News
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Petersburg Times
Washington Post

Honorable Mention
Arizona Republic
Boston Globe
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Houston Chronicle
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
New York Daily News
New York Times
Philadelphia Inqurier
San Francisco Chronicle
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

 

[2underpar]

doesn't that just about cover every over 250k paper?

 

[spankys]

ha! I think there's 23 over 250k...they should give something to the 3 papers that don't win jack to reveal it as the fraud that it is!

every year they vote to include more papers in the highest circ category, and every year the editors from the big papers vote no, and every year they congratulate each other for winning so many awards.

 

[Drip]

I've never been a big awards person because it's all subjective. This year, with so many of my colleagues out of work and with the way papers look in general across the country, I don't think there's any paper that stands heads and shoulders above another. I could care less about who wins.

 

[JJHHI]

I've never been a big awards person because it's all subjective. This year, with so many of my colleagues out of work and with the way papers look in general across the country, I don't think there's any paper that stands heads and shoulders above another. I could care less about who wins.

Well, at least you still care at least a little bit.

 

[Drip]

I've never been a big awards person because it's all subjective. This year, with so many of my colleagues out of work and with the way papers look in general across the country, I don't think there's any paper that stands heads and shoulders above another. I could care less about who wins.

Well, at least you still care at least a little bit.

LMAO

 

[Lollygaggers]

The APSE site says the committee might consider changing the categories, specifically dropping the top category to 175,000 and above instead of 250,000. Think they also said they want to make Web replace special sections for the Triple Crown categories.

 

[Sir Sid]

. Think they also said they want to make Web replace special sections for the Triple Crown categories.

And just like that every McClatchy owned paper is out of the running.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I don't know why they even bother with this charade anymore. Newspapers are going bankrupt, good journalists are losing their jobs left and right and we're worried about this bull****?

I've judged APSE, I've won APSE awards and it was a really big deal to me at the time.

These days, it means less than nothing.

 

[apseloser]

Not surprising, one of the 250K papers that was shut out is the AJC.

Wait. Does the AJC still have 250,000 readers?

 

[Sir Sid]

That makes for an interesting point... how long will there actually be more than 10 or so papers with 250k circulation.

 

[Drip]

I don't know why they even bother with this charade anymore. Newspapers are going bankrupt, good journalists are losing their jobs left and right and we're worried about this bull****?

I've judged APSE, I've won APSE awards and it was a really big deal to me at the time.

These days, it means less than nothing.

Ditto!!!

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

I don't know why they even bother with this charade anymore. Newspapers are going bankrupt, good journalists are losing their jobs left and right and we're worried about this bull****?

I've judged APSE, I've won APSE awards and it was a really big deal to me at the time.

These days, it means less than nothing.

WFFW. Other than the whole winning and judging thing . . .

APSE awards are not the shield against buyouts and layoffs that we would like them to be. So really, what is the point? To receive a nice pat on the back, make you falsely confident in your job security so you stay until the next round of buyouts/layoffs?

 

[Sans_Serif_Font]

I don't know why they even bother with this charade anymore. Newspapers are going bankrupt, good journalists are losing their jobs left and right and we're worried about this bull****?

I've judged APSE, I've won APSE awards and it was a really big deal to me at the time.

These days, it means less than nothing.

WFFW. Other than the whole winning and judging thing . . .

APSE awards are not the shield against buyouts and layoffs that we would like them to be. So really, what is the point? To receive a nice pat on the back, make you falsely confident in your job security so you stay until the next round of buyouts/layoffs?

If Pulitzer Prize winners can get laid off or have their papers close, no one is safe. Good luck to all nonetheless.

 

[apseloser]

I see a lot of sections these days (everything but the West) and, I'm telling you, there isn't much difference between the 250Ks and the 50Ks.

In fact, I know of 2 under-50Ks that would win any competition against 2 particular over-250Ks. The little guys just do more staff stuff with those 6-8 pages both have than the bigs, many of whom still cram a lot of wire roundups and NHL agate in there.

I think the day is coming (if we're not already there) when there ought to be 2 categories:

-- the incredibly hard-working and much-admired 1- and 2-man sports departments
-- everyone else

It'd be fascinating (and humiliating, for some) to see a list of the 20 best sports sections (top 10 and 10 HM), regardless of circulation.

Unless the panel was completely biased, I suspect fewer than half of them would be in the 250K range.

I judged for 3 years and never ran into a hint of bias in my 4-man subcommittees. I did run, however, into a lot of chubby men who talked big games, took all the credit for their staffs' hard work and treated the under-100K sports editors like lepers.

Thankfully, a lot of those guys have shuffled off to places like ESPN's Page 2, the NCAA's New Media Strategies department, MLB.com and the LA Times as Tribune Co. sports coordinator.

 

[playthrough]

I don't know why they even bother with this charade anymore. Newspapers are going bankrupt, good journalists are losing their jobs left and right and we're worried about this bull****?

I've judged APSE, I've won APSE awards and it was a really big deal to me at the time.

These days, it means less than nothing.

WFFW. Other than the whole winning and judging thing . . .

APSE awards are not the shield against buyouts and layoffs that we would like them to be. So really, what is the point? To receive a nice pat on the back, make you falsely confident in your job security so you stay until the next round of buyouts/layoffs?

Does anyone think they're a shield anymore? I strongly doubt it.

I don't understand the anger against the awards. I guess more of it is directed at the sections rather than the individuals; I know I'd hate to see the individual awards go away and good people not get some acknowledgment for a job that certainly ain't getting any easier.

 

[Ace]

I see a lot of sections these days (everything but the West) and, I'm telling you, there isn't much difference between the 250Ks and the 50Ks.

In fact, I know of 2 under-50Ks that would win any competition against 2 particular over-250Ks. The little guys just do more staff stuff with those 6-8 pages both have than the bigs, many of whom still cram a lot of wire roundups and NHL agate in there.

I think the day is coming (if we're not already there) when there ought to be 2 categories:

-- the incredibly hard-working and much-admired 1- and 2-man sports departments
-- everyone else

It'd be fascinating (and humiliating, for some) to see a list of the 20 best sports sections (top 10 and 10 HM), regardless of circulation.

Unless the panel was completely biased, I suspect fewer than half of them would be in the 250K range.

I judged for 3 years and never ran into a hint of bias in my 4-man subcommittees. I did run, however, into a lot of chubby men who talked big games, took all the credit for their staffs' hard work and treated the under-100K sports editors like lepers.

Thankfully, a lot of those guys have shuffled off to places like ESPN's Page 2, the NCAA's New Media Strategies department, MLB.com and the LA Times as Tribune Co. sports coordinator.

Thanks for not naming names or anything, loser. And who you calling chubby?

 

[Max Mercy]

I don't know why they even bother with this charade anymore. Newspapers are going bankrupt, good journalists are losing their jobs left and right and we're worried about this bull****?

I've judged APSE, I've won APSE awards and it was a really big deal to me at the time.

These days, it means less than nothing.

WFFW. Other than the whole winning and judging thing . . .

APSE awards are not the shield against buyouts and layoffs that we would like them to be. So really, what is the point? To receive a nice pat on the back, make you falsely confident in your job security so you stay until the next round of buyouts/layoffs?

Oh, for chrissakes. What do you want us to do? All curl up under our desks in the fetal position, sucking our thumbs and sobbing hysterically? Nobody's "worried" about this ****. We've all got bigger things to worry about. But we should give up trying to write great stories and produce great sections because our business sucks right now? We should stop taking three measly days a year to acknowledge great work and give everyone something, however minor, to aspire to because our business sucks right now? Give me a break.

Contests are silly, yes. Overly subjective, sure. But they cost practically nothing, they're a nice bit of positivity in a job sorely lacking in it, and they're a nice piece of solace in an otherwise ****ty business where ****ty people like you spout ****ty **** about all the bad **** all the ****ty time.

I almost lost my job this year. My wife almost did, too. We both took huge paycuts and endured furloughs. Just like everybody else. Will a state contest or an APSE make up for any of that? No. But you know what? I, and a lot of other people, wouldn't mind a token pat on the back at this point, even if it's all we can get.

Some of us still love this business, dying or not. I hope you got out a long time ago.