Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Ohio's Best Journalism Contest - Call For Entries

Ohio's Best Journalism - 2017

Competition Call for Entries

Honoring the Best of Ohio’s Print, Broadcasting, Digital Media, Freelance, Trade and College Journalism in 2016

Entry information and a list of categories are available at our competition website
Visit Contest
See Categories
Ohio’s Best Journalism contest is ready to accept submissions for 2017 beginning today – and we’re excited to introduce a new contest software program called OpenWater. We hope you will soon be as excited as we are about this new portal. It promises to provide a much more efficient and intuitive experience for our contest entrants. View the “Rules” and “Help” tabs in the header of the contest home page for complete directions and explanations to help you submit entries. We can’t wait for you to try OpenWater and let us know what you think.

The deadline for entries is midnight March 31, 2017.

Please take note of some new changes this year: In response to your questions, we clarified and made consistent details regarding the number of articles/broadcasts in specific categories. We also have added a new field asking whose name(s) should appear on any award. It is our sincere hope our updates eliminate confusion and streamline the submission process. Please contact us with any questions or comments at: contact@ohiospjawards.org

Our annual statewide contest is presented collaboratively by the Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland Pro Chapters of The Society of Professional Journalists and honors print, broadcast, digital, trade, freelance and college journalists in Ohio for their best work during 2016. Our contest is the only Ohio competition that honors journalists who fulfill the SPJ mission: defense of the First Amendment, support of literacy, resistance to censorship, advocacy for openness of public records and meetings, media self-criticism and community service. Our contest also recognizes the best college daily and weekly newspapers.
ELIGIBILITY: Journalists are eligible who work for newspaper, magazine, radio, television, trade, digital and college media in Ohio and adjacent states that have significant reach into Ohio. Freelance journalists, who are Ohio residents, are eligible, regardless of where their work is published, broadcast or webcast. Last year, we added numerous freelance categories in response to the growing number of freelance journalists. Click here for Freelance categories. Newsletter and blog submissions also are welcome. Entrants need not be members of the Society of Professional Journalists. Submitted work must have been published or broadcast in 2016.

FEES: A $30 entry fee must accompany each submission, except college entries. College students pay a $10 entry fee for writing of news, feature, sports and opinion. College newspapers may enter the best college daily and weekly newspaper categories for free. There is a $5 discount per entry for work by SPJ members. You may submit any given article in as many relevant categories as you wish. Not an SPJ member? Join here and save.

SPREAD THE WORD: Please forward this message to anyone you think would like to participate in Ohio’s Best Journalism contest! OpenWater makes it easy to share the contest site with your colleagues and friends. Look for the social media icons (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) on the left side of the contest site landing page.

QUESTIONS: For additional information, please visit our website – www.ohiospjawards.org – or contact:

Sarah Mills Bacha
614.563.1066
contact@ohiospjawards.org