APSE looks at contest changes

[Lucas Wiseman]

Lynn Hoppes, the Executive Sports Editor at the Orlando Sentinel, says changes may be on the way for the annual Associated Press Sports Editors contest.

“As I move up from second vice president to first vice president, I will be given the task of looking at and revamping our yearly contest,” Hoppes says. “Brace yourselves, it’ll be a doozy.”

http://apse.dallasnews.com/2007/june2007/060307hoppes.html

 

[JBHawkEye]

My first thought: Our Monday-Saturday circulation is slightly under 20,000, our Sunday circulation is 21,000. So, if there's an under-20,000 circ category, and a 20,000-50,000 circ category, where does my newspaper fall?

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

I'm glad they're apparently not adding a fifth circulation class. Too much grade inflation as it is.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

My first thought: Our Monday-Saturday circulation is slightly under 20,000, our Sunday circulation is 21,000. So, if there's an under-20,000 circ category, and a 20,000-50,000 circ category, where does my newspaper fall?

They go by daily circ., even in Sunday judging.

 

[patchs]

Bravo, finally.
Give the little guy a fair shot.

 

[MileHigh]

There was talk of this during the recent contests, tweaking the circ categories.

 

[taz]

If it's on the web, enter it in the category it fits in.

Even moreso than breaking news, there should be allowances for including web content in the enterprise and event categories. We did a series last summer that had some great multimedia components, and elaborate online-only coverage of a local prep team winning a state title. The newspaper coverage was very good, but our online content took both to another level.

Maybe down the line, we could have some other online-specific categories, much like the E&P awards (broken down by categories, of course): Blogs, best overall web site, event coverage, special section, etc.

 

[SF_Express]

Remember, another aspect of online contest entries for APSE to consider is whether to take the entries of associate members like Yahoo, ESPN.com and SportsLine.

 

[Jersey_Guy]

Remember, another aspect of online contest entries for APSE to consider is whether to take the entries of associate members like Yahoo, ESPN.com and SportsLine.

I think it's a no-brainer. This is where the business is headed. Guidelines should be established and they should all be invited to join.

 

[spinning27]

Lynn, if you are reading this, one suggestion would be to tweak the rules so that columnists can not enter columns in the game story category. The Plaschkes and Posnanskis and Alboms and Calkins of the world have taken advantage of this loophole for years to be able to enter more columns and pile up awards.

I don't really have a problem with columnists entering the feature category. To me, a feature is a feature regardless of whether it has a mug shot on it. But a column written live off a game is not a game story. So the judges are being asked to judge apples against oranges, and I think it does a disservice to the beat hacks who have to write gamers under different constraints.

 

[Twoback]

If there's a category where a columnist enters three columns to win an award, why not one for beat work in which the writer enters an advance, a gamer, a trend/enterprise piece and a breaking news item?
Beat guys/gals are the lifeblood of the section, and the awards all but totally ignore them.

 

[vanbrimmer]

Another question for APSE is where chainwide-employed writers fit. There are more and more of us these days, between Morris News Service, Booth Newspapers, Gannett Louisiana, etc. Two years ago, I was told my work and my colleagues' work was ineligible for the contests in any circulation category going forward. That's unfortunate, considering many of us operate exactly like your college or pro beatwriter at every 50K-plus newspaper in America. If the combined circulation of my papers is 250K, let me compete in that category.

 

[Herbert Anchovy]

All of these proposals make way too much sense for Hoppes and APSE to consider. Please brace for the doozy.

 

[Omar_dont_scare]

How about a special "weeper feature" category?

 

[Monroe Stahr]

I think you've hit on something there, Omar. Newspapers have so many sob stories these days -- sports especially -- that they should have separate Violin Section. It's time for the APSE contest to acknowledge this. We could give an award each year, for instance, to the best story about:
* An Athlete Looking For His Birth Mother;
* A Birth Mother Who Keeps Tormenting An Athlete; or
* An Athlete Who Can't Find His Birth Mother And Has Decided To Have A Sex Change Operation So He Can Feel Closer To Her.
Oh, wait. We're already doing that.

 

[Omar_dont_scare]

I think you've hit on something there, Omar. Newspapers have so many sob stories these days -- sports especially -- that they should have separate Violin Section. It's time for the APSE contest to acknowledge this. We could give an award each year, for instance, to the best story about:
* An Athlete Looking For His Birth Mother;
* A Birth Mother Who Keeps Tormenting An Athlete; or
* An Athlete Who Can't Find His Birth Mother And Has Decided To Have A Sex Change Operation So He Can Feel Closer To Her.
Oh, wait. We're already doing that.

There needs to be a special Amputee/Disease category.

 

[Monroe Stahr]

The key is this: Do newspapers honestly think people are standing in bars talking about these stories? Do they honestly think these stories are provoking conversation -- and creating buzz for the paper? What sports fan greets his buddies the ESPN Sports Zone after work with: "Hey, did you see that great story in the Herald about the albino double amputee shot putter?"

 

[chazp]

Bravo, finally.
Give the little guy a fair shot.

Wow, it would be great if they do create the under 20K category.

 

[2underpar]

I'd read a story about an albino double amputee shot putter.

 

[joe king]

If there's a category where a columnist enters three columns to win an award, why not one for beat work in which the writer enters an advance, a gamer, a trend/enterprise piece and a breaking news item?
Beat guys/gals are the lifeblood of the section, and the awards all but totally ignore them.

I love this idea. I've always thought beat guys should be recognized not so much for individual stories (though by all means if they write a great one, it deserves recognition) but for their body of work through the grind of a season and beyond. Have them turn in four or five stories to show their range and depth.

At one of my previous stops, the state contest had an award for ``In depth coverage,'' in which you entered pretty much everything you wrote on an ongoing story during the year and they judged how well it was covered. Not sure if that's feasible, but I thought it was a cool idea (especially since I took second in that category behind some big government scandal).