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Minnesota Public Radio’s ongoing investigation of how the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis responded to allegations of sexually abusive priests – “Betrayed by Silence” – was named the Story of the Year at the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists’ Page One Awards on Thursday. The series also won top honors for continuing coverage in online news and Madeleine Baran, one of the lead journalists covering the story for MPR, was named Young Journalist of the Year.

The annual Page One Awards recognize the best in Minnesota journalism. Awards were given in more than 60 categories for newspaper reporting, online news, photography, television, radio, multimedia and several other categories at MN SPJ’s Page One Awards banquet on Thursday evening in St. Paul.  Entries for the 2014 Page One Awards were judged by journalists from the Oklahoma Pro Chapter of SPJ.

Star Tribune State Capitol reporter Jim Ragsdale was named Journalist of the Year. The award for the Best Use of Public Records went to Star Tribune reporters Rachel E. Stassen-Berger and Glenn Howatt, for their reporting on campaign finance in Minnesota.

Art Hughes and Joan Gilbertson were given the 2014 Peter S. Popovich Award, which recognizes people or an organization that exemplifies the fight for First Amendment rights. Hughes, a freelance journalist, and Gilbertson, a WCCO producer, have been instrumental in the ongoing effort to bring cameras into Minnesota courtrooms.

Minnesota SPJ board member Jonathan Kealing presents the Peter S. Popovich award.

MN SPJ also announced scholarship awards two journalism students – Jordan Gerard of Winona State University and Gino Terrell of Hamline University. Each received a $2,500 scholarship. MN SPJ awards student scholarships each year, funded partly by generous donations from its annual silent auction.

Minnesota SPJ board member Amanda Theisen presents scholarships to Jordan Gerard and Gino Terrell.

Politico co-founder John Harris, a Carleton College graduate, delivered the keynote address at Thursday’s banquet.

John Harris, co-founder and editor in chief of Politico, gives the keynote address during the 2014 Page One Awards banquet May 29 in St. Paul.

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) is the oldest, largest and broadest-based organization of journalists in the U.S. and was founded as Sigma Delta Chi in 1909. The MN SPJ chapter was founded in 1956. The chapter membership totals about 150.

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

Download full list of winners/event program (PDF)
Download full list of winners (Excel)

GENERAL GUIDELINES

• The fee is $20 per entry.
• Entries must be submitted no later than Friday, February 14, 2014.
• All work published or broadcast during the 2013 calendar year is eligible.
• Journalists (including freelancers and contract employees) working for all print, broadcast and online news outlets in Minnesota (or news outlets in neighboring states that cover Minnesota) are eligible to enter.
• We encourage collegiate journalists to enter student work in SPJ’s Mark of Excellence Awards. The submission deadline for that contest is January 24, 2014.
• An individual may submit only one entry per category. Exceptions: 1) if a second entry is a multiple-byline entry; or 2) if it is submitted by his/her employer because they could not agree on a single entry.
• Entries will be judged by journalism professionals outside Minnesota.
• Judges may move an entry from one category to another.
• Up to three winners may be chosen for each category. Judges may choose not to name a winner in any category.
• Entries will not be returned.
• Awards Presentation: Winners will be announced in the spring of 2014 and honored during MN SPJ’s annual Page One Awards Banquet. Date and location, TBD.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

• NEWSPAPER, ONLINE & PHOTOGRAPHY ENTRIES must be submitted online.
• FOR PRINT ENTRIES (Newspaper and Magazine): Entrants should submit a link to the online article or a PDF of the news/magazine page on which the story appeared. The date of publication should be visible.
• FOR NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE “BEST ISSUE” CATEGORIES: entries may be submitted by mail. TWO COPIES of each issue must be submitted in an 8 1/2-by-11-inch folder or envelope. Please write category name on outside of folder.
• FOR GRAPHICS/PHOTOGRAPHY CATEGORIES: Entrants should submit a PDF of the news/magazine page on which the art appeared, or a link to the art published on an online news site. The date of publication should be visible.
• FOR TV ENTRIES: Entrants should submit a URL where video can be viewed (preferred) or entries may be submitted on a DVD (please include TWO COPIES).
• FOR RADIO ENTRIES: Entrants should submit a link to the work online (preferred) or entries may be submitted by mail on a CD (please include TWO COPIES).

CLICK HERE to access the contest submission form

1. NEWSPAPER

a. Spot News (One or more stories covering a single spot news event)

b. Feature (A single feature story)

c. Enterprise/In-Depth (One or more stories on a single topic or news event that reflects reporter’s ingenuity, use of sources or special research that help the reader understand a situation beyond information provided in a typical news story)

d. Investigative (One or more stories a single topic or news event containing information not readily available to the news media or public and obtained through reporter initiative)

e. Business Story (A single news story or feature focusing on business-related news)

f. Sports Story (A single news story or feature focusing on sports-related news)

g. Arts & Entertainment Story (A single news story or feature focusing on arts & entertainment-related news)

h. Column (A single column written for any section including but not limited to general interest, business or sports)

i. Editorial (A single editorial)

j. Graphics/Art and illustration (Original artwork, graphs, diagrams, maps or other visual elements that illustrate a story)

k. Page Design (A single page design: taking into account layout and page composition, use of headlines, art, graphics etc.)

l. Headlines (A collection of up to three (3) headlines, submitted along with the accompanying stories)

m. Best issue (Based on reporting, writing, photography, graphics/illustration, layout, copyhandling, etc.)

2. MAGAZINE

a. Best Profile Story (A single profile story)

b. Best Feature Story (A single feature story)

c. Best Department (A magazine component appearing under the same heading and possibly, but not always, written by different writers); send 3 unique examples

d. Best Column (A magazine component appearing under the same heading and always written by the same author); send 3 unique examples

e. Best Cover (A single magazine cover)

f. Best Page Design (A full story or feature layout, single page, two-page or double-truck design)

g. Best Illustration (A single illustration or illustrations accompanying a story)

h. Best issue (Based on writing, photography, graphics/illustration, layout)

3. TELEVISION

a. Spot/Breaking news (coverage of an unscheduled event broadcast within 24 hours; may be a single story or compilation of coverage on a single event)

b. Hard News report (best coverage of a news-related topic; may include in-depth, planned coverage of a single event, or enterprise reporting)

c. Feature (single story done for some other factor than timeliness–may include profile, human interest, or trend stories)

d. Special Project/In-Depth series (a single report or series of reports going in-depth on a particular subject, helping the viewer understand a situation beyond information in a typical news story)

e. Investigative (One or more stories containing information not readily available to the news media or public and obtained through reporter initiative)

f. Newscast (One regularly-scheduled newscast airing on any day in the contest year. The entry should represent the station’s best work in news content, execution, and overall presentation)

4. RADIO

a. Spot/Breaking news (coverage of an unscheduled event broadcast within 24 hours; may be a single story or compilation of coverage on a single event)

b. Hard News report (best coverage of a news-related topic; may include in-depth, planned coverage of a single event, or enterprise reporting)

c. Feature (single story done for some other factor than timeliness–may include profile, human interest, or trend stories)

d. Special Project/In-Depth series (a single report or series of reports going in-depth on a particular subject, helping the viewer understand a situation beyond information in a typical news story)

e. Investigative (One or more stories containing information not readily available to the news media or public and obtained through reporter initiative)

f. Newscast (One regularly-scheduled newscast airing on any day in the contest year. The entry should represent the station’s best work in news content, execution, and overall presentation)

5. ONLINE

a. Best Website (Best use of a website for providing news to an online audience. Judges will look at areas such as ease of navigation, creative design concepts, good organization and degree to which online resources enhance reporting.)

b. Best single news story (Best online coverage of a single news story or event)

c. Best continuing coverage (Two or more online reports demonstrating ongoing coverage of a news event; including original or web-only content)

d. Arts & Entertainment. (Single arts and entertainment-themed feature)

e. Best use of multimedia (Demonstrates outstanding use of photos, galleries, video, and/or audio to enhance original story)

f. Best news video (Single video, or series of videos on the same subject, produced to appear online-only)

g. Best newsroom blog (submit URL for blog, judged on overall excellence in news coverage, affiliated with a newspaper, magazine, TV or radio station)

h. Best independent news blog (submit URL for blog, judged on overall excellence in news coverage, not affiliated with a newspaper, magazine, TV or radio station)

6. PHOTOGRAPHY

a. Best News Photography (Best use of photography in news stories. Submit a collection of up to three (3) news photos.)

b. Best Feature Photography (Best use of photography in feature stories. Submit a collection of up to three (3) feature photos.)

c. Best Portrait Photography (Best use of portrait photography. Submit a collection of up to three (3) portrait photos.)

d. Best Sports Photography (Best use of photography in sports stories. Submit a collection of up to three (3) sports photos.)

7. SPECIAL AWARDS

a. Young Journalist of the Year (Award given to outstanding journalist in any medium with less than 10 years experience; submit three examples of work and letter of nomination)

b. Journalist of the Year (Award given to outstanding journalist in any medium with 10 or more years of experience; submit three examples of work and letter of nomination)

c. Story of the Year (Award for general excellence in any medium, covering a single story or news event submit up to three examples of work and letter of nomination)

d. Best Use of Public Records (Award for excellence in any medium covering a single story or news event where use of public records played a role in getting and telling the story; submit three examples of work and narrative letter explaining work and use of public records)

Entry Tiers

• Newspaper [50,000+ circulation]
• Newspaper [LESS than 50,000 circulation]
• Magazine
• Television [50+ newsroom employees]
• Television [LESS than 50 newsroom employees]
• Radio
• Online
• Photography [All photo entries will be judged against each other regardless of publication size]

CLICK HERE to access the contest submission form

The Minnesota Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (MN SPJ) recognizes the best in Minnesota journalism each year with its annual Page One Awards.

Journalists working for all print, broadcast and online news outlets in Minnesota (or news outlets in neighboring states that cover Minnesota) are eligible to enter. All work published or broadcast during the 2013 calendar year is eligible. Entries must be submitted by Friday, February 14. The fee is $20 per entry.

New for 2014:  For the “Best Newspaper Headline” category, and all photography categories, entrants may submit a collection of up to three headlines or photos for a single entry.

Contest winners will be honored at MN SPJ’s Page One Banquet, an annual spring event celebrating excellence in Minnesota journalism.

MN SPJ encourages collegiate journalists to enter student work in SPJ’s Mark of Excellence Awards. Submission deadline for that contest is January 24, 2014.

Important Links:

• Online Contest Submission Form
• Complete Listing of Contest Rules and Guidelines
• Complete Listing of Contest Categories and Descriptions

Please contact MN SPJ with any questions: minnesota.spj@gmail.com

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 →