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It’s that time of year again: awards season. Our awards honor the best journalism in many categories – print, radio, television, newsletters, art/graphics, online and research. Submit entries for the following honors to get your excellent work recognized nationally:

Sigma Delta Chi awards:

Who? This contest is open to all professional journalists in the U.S., as well as international SPJ members.

What? All entries must have been published or broadcast in 2013.

Where? Submit your entries online. $60 per entry for SPJ members / $100 per entry for nonmembers

When? The deadline to submit is Feb. 7.

Mark of Excellence awards:

Who? This contest is open to anyone enrolled in a college or university in the U.S. studying for an academic degree in 2013. International SPJ students may also enter.

What? All entries must have been published or broadcast in 2013.

Where? Submit your entries online. $9 per entry for SPJ members / $18 per entry for nonmembers

When? The deadline to submit is Jan. 24.

High School Essay contest:

Who? All students enrolled in grades 9-12 in U.S. public, private and home schools within the United States.

What? The essay should be 300-500 words and must include an entry form. Please answer the question: “Why is it important that we have news media that are independent of the government?” Entries may be typed or handwritten but must be double-spaced.
Where? Send all entries to: High School Essay Contest, Society of Professional Journalists, 3909 N. Meridian St. Indianapolis, IN 46208; The entry fee is $5.
When? All entries should be postmarked by March 7, 2014.

For more information, please visit the awards page on spj.org. Questions? Email awards@spj.org or call SPJ headquarters at 317.927.8000. Good luck!

Note: Please expect to see the call for entries for MN SPJ’s annual Page One Awards contest around January 1, 2014.

The Star Tribune’s multimedia presentation of a mass execution in Minnesota earned several top honors at the annual Minnesota SPJ Page One awards–including story of the year, journalist of the year and in-depth story.

The ‘In the Footsteps of Little Crow‘ series was named story of the year, Curt Brown won journalist of the year, and Brown, David Joles and Jim Gehrz were praised for their work on the project.

The Star Tribune’s Eric Roper was also named “Young Journalist of the Year.”

WCCO-TV morning anchors Jason DeRusha and Jamie Yuccas announce the award winners.

In addition to the journalism awards, the Minnesota Pro Chapter of SPJ also gave its 2013 Peter S. Popovich Award to Timberjay Newspapers publisher Marshall Helmberger for his determined fight to shine the light on publicly funded construction contracts in St. Louis County.

The chapter also announced two journalism students, Brianna Kelly of DePaul University and Callie Sacarelos of the University of Minnesota, will each received a $2,500 scholarship. Minnesota SPJ awards the scholarships each year, funded partly by generous donations from its annual silent auction.

Randi Kaye, an Emmy Award-winning anchor and correspondent for CNN/U.S, based in New York who reports for Anderson Cooper 360°, was the keynote speaker at the Page One awards.  A former WCCO reporter and anchor, Kaye shared some of the big stories she’s covered throughout her career, including the recent, emotional reunion of Boston bombing victim Erika Brannock, with the woman who provided critical care and support to her immediately following the incident. Continue reading →

Minnesota SPJ congratulates all 2012 Page One Award winners and would like to thank everyone who made the annual celebration a huge success.  A full list of contest winners is published below (in Excel or Word format).

A hard-charging courts reporter, an expose of a questionable Duluth doctor and a fast-paced look at an urban natural disaster are among the more than 180 journalists and their work honored at the 2012 Page One Awards Banquet.

The Minnesota Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists also bestowed its annual Peter S. Popovich Freedom of Information Award on Star Tribune reporters Richard Meryhew and Glenn Howatt. They used public documents and the power of their writing to pry into a pattern of inaction by the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice that potentially endangers patients. Their series of articles (beginning Feb. 5, 2012) includes a state-by-state comparison and an online searchable database of doctors.

Among the top awards, judges deemed the Duluth News Tribune’s Brandon Stahl the Journalist of the Year. Among other things Stahl and fellow writer Mark Stodghill completed an investigation of a doctor that started as a records request in 2006. The Star Tribune’s Abby Simons was named the Young Journalist of the Year.

CBS News Correspondent/co-host of “CBS This Morning: Saturday” and Minnesota native Rebecca Jarvis was the keynote speaker at the annual banquet.  Jarvis talked about the high journalistic standards her mother, Gail MarksJarvis imparted on her from a young age; shared memorable stories from her journalism career; and even talked about her experience competing on Season 4 of The Apprentice.

In addition to celebrating the 2012 Award winners, MN SPJ awarded two $2,400 scholarships to collegiate journalists Grace Webb from Minnesota State University-Mankato and Lindsey Branwall from State Cloud State University.  Thanks to the generosity of attendees, the chapter also raised $2,700 for its student scholarship fund at the 4th Annual MN SPJ Silent Auction.

The annual MN SPJ Page One Awards are judged by journalists in other states. This year’s entries were judged by print, online, magazine, radio and television reporters in Washington state, Michigan, Wisconsin and New England.

If you would like to order duplicate awards, or have any awards-related questions, please contact Minnesota SPJ at minnesota.spj@gmail.com.

Full Winners List (Word Format)
Full Winners List (Excel Format)