2012 Contest Open For Entries

Over the last several days, Connecticut journalists have worked harder than ever to keep the state — and the nation — informed of the latest details regarding the Dec. 14 school shooting in Newtown.

It’s just one example of the difficult and important job Connecticut reporters undertake every day.

It can sometimes be a thankless job – one filled with new demands, pressures and criticisms.

That’s why the Connecticut Pro chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists hosts the annual Excellence in Journalism Contest.

We want to recognize the quality work being done at Connecticut news outlets – and honor the best of the best.

So today, the CTSPJ board is proud to announce that we are accepting entries for the 2012 Excellence in Journalism Contest. Click here to visit the contest site. Click here for the full list of categories.

The deadline for submissions is Feb. 22, 2013.  The deadline for submissions has been extended to Wednesday, Feb. 27.

Our board has worked diligently to update our contest platform over the past several years. This year, you will see the same online entry form, with some updates, as detailed below.

Member Numbers
The major change is that all SPJ members must enter their SPJ member number in order to pay the discounted $10 entry fee. This change was put into place to help our volunteer board members better streamline the billing process.

Only SPJ members entering their own work can pay the discounted rate. News organizations entering for their employees pay the $25 non-member rate.

If you do not know your member number, please contact SPJ’s national membership coordinator, Linda Hall, at LindaH@SPJ.org or at (317) 927-8000.

Media Organization Names
To further streamline the administration of the entries, we’ve added a drop-down list of media organizations to the entry form. Our board volunteers input the media organizations that have entered the contest in the past several years.

We might have missed some, so if you do not see your news organization listed, please contact me at jmozdzer@ctspj.org, and after verification, we will update the list.

Special Categories
In light of major news events in Connecticut, our contest committee has decided to add special categories for coverage of Hurricane Sandy and the Newtown shooting.

The categories are:

Hurricane Sandy

• Spot News
• Page 1 Layout
• Non-Page 1 Layout
• News photo

Newtown Shooting

• Spot News
• General Reporting
• Page 1 Layout
• Non-Page 1 Layout
• News Photo

These special categories will help showcase the coverage of the major news events, while allowing journalists to continue to enter their traditional spot news, layout and news photo work in the contest.

Annual Dinner
Also, now is a good time to mark your calendars for our annual dinner, scheduled for May 23, 2013 at Fantasia banquet hall in North Haven.

If you have any questions or problems, please contact contest co-chairs Jodie Mozdzer Gil (jmozdzer@ctspj.org) or Cindy Simoneau (csimoneau@ctspj.org)