Entries Now Open for National Newspaper Awards
The National Newspaper Awards (NNAs) will begin accepting entries for the 2013 competition on Dec. 15, 2013.
Entries are being accepted in each of the 22 categories between Dec. 15, 2013, and Jan. 15, 2014.
To be eligible, an entry must have been published first in 2013, in English or French, by a Canadian daily newspaper (whether in print or online) or by an online publication that has met criteria established by the NNA Board of Governors in accordance with the rules of entry.
This is the 65th year of the awards, which were established in 1949 to encourage excellence and reward achievement in daily newspaper work in Canada. Finalists will be announced in mid-March, and winners will be announced at a gala dinner on Friday, May 30, 2014, in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
The entry fee is $40 per entry for submissions from newspapers above 30,000 average daily circulation as well as online publications, and $25 for newspapers below 30,000 average daily circulation, plus applicable taxes. There is no entry fee in the Local Reporting category, which is open only to newspapers below 30,000 average daily circulation.
PLEASE NOTE: There are a few changes to entry rules and procedures this year:
ENTRY FORMATS
Entries in 20 of the 22 categories must be submitted online. The only exceptions are Presentation, which must be submitted with published newspaper tearsheets, and Project of the Year, which may be submitted either with tearsheets or through the provision of technology (such as three tablets) that allows judges to assess the work in its intended form.
Entries in the Multimedia category must be submitted online but may be accompanied by the provision of technology (such as three tablets) that allows judges to assess the work in its intended form.
Text entries submitted online may be cut and pasted into the applicable field in the entry system.
For further clarity, Presentation and Project of the Year are the only two categories that may be mailed or couriered to the National Newspaper Awards office by the deadline. ALL OTHERS MUST BE SUBMITTED ONLINE.
All non-Photo categories other than Presentation, Short Features, Long Features and Editorial Cartooning now permit all journalistic tools other than photos, including but not limited to text, video, audio and social media.
For all submissions that include links to work published online, entrants must submit a working URL(s). If the work is posted on an archived or subscription site, the entry must provide a username and password for judges.
BLIND JUDGING
Entries in Short Features, Columns and Editorials will be judged “blind” and must not include the name of the author or the news affiliation in the story or supporting letter/comments. That information must, however, be entered separately on the online entry form in the field provided.
EXTERNAL FUNDING AND SUPPORT
For an entry to qualify, any outside funding or support for the work must be clearly identified at the time of publication, in any online archives of the work, and as part of the entry into the awards program. The NNA Board of Governors may determine that the receipt or use of such resources or funding falls below the highest standards of journalistic ethics in the circumstances and that the entry is therefore ineligible for the awards program. The decision of the Governors in such cases is final and not subject to review.
