The 36th Annual Peter Lisagor Awards

 

 

This year, entries to the 36th annual Peter Lisagor Awards will be submitted using BetterBNC Online Journalism Awards Platform.

Below are directions for preparing and submitting entries. If you have questions, please contact Aimee DeBat at (312) 553-0393 or chc.spj@gmail.com.

Click here for this year’s brochure. 

IMPORTANT: BetterBNC is optimized for Firefox for PC and Macintosh. Please have a recent version downloaded and installed for the best contest experience.

The deadline for all entries is February 8, 2013.

Chicago Headline Club members pay the members-only contest fee of $30. Nonmembers pay $50 per entry.

Contestants may print an invoice online and submit payment form with a check payable to the Chicago Headline Club at:

1349 E. Washington Street #408, Des Plaines, IL 60016.

Or, if they wish to pay with a credit card, they may do so through the Pay Pal link or scan and email the payment form and then call Aimee DeBat at 312-553-0393.

A single payment may cover all nominations. The Chicago Headline Club’s federal tax ID is 36-3284316.

How do I login to the contest? 

Login

Go to:
http://betternewspapercontest.com/open_contestants/login and create an Open Call contestant account. Everyone must re-enter the contest with new passwords.

a. Go to www.betterbnc.com.
b. Click Open Call Login (upper left).
c. Click Create Your Open Call Account (lower left).
d. Follow the steps to create your account.

2. Request access to the Peter Lisagor Awards.
a. Mouse over Open Contestants (upper left) and click My Contests.
b. Check the box for The 36th Annual Peter Lisagor Awards, which will notify the contestant manager that you wish to enter the contest.

You will receive an email approval from the contest administrator within 24-48 hours of requesting access, allowing you to begin creating entries.

Once you have established your Open Call account, you can continue to use it year after year for any BetterBNC contest which allows Open Call contestants.

Your Open Call account gives you Scrapbooks, cloud-based storage, letting you save your contest-worthy material throughout the year in 10 different Scrapbooks.

Submit Entries

On the Manage Entries page, click Submit Entry (left side).
Select the appropriate Division (grouping of categories).
Select the appropriate Category.
(If applicable) Read the corresponding Category Note (directly below the Category selection box), describing the category’s requirements.
Complete the Headline/Title field.
Add entry content (may vary by category):

To upload digital file attachments (other than audio/video), click Browse, navigate to the desired file, and select Open.

Allowed file types are PDF, DOC, TXT, JPG, GIF, and PNG.

If more than one attachment is desired for this entry, click Attach More and repeat these steps.

If you reach a point where you cannot add any more attachments to an entry, you may have reached the attachments limit, set by your contest administrator.

Please try to keep file sizes under 5mb, to aid judges in accessing entry content.

For larger files, you may upload your file(s) to a 3rd-party website such as www.issuu.com, and copy and paste the hosted item’s web address into the Website URL field.

To add web/audio/video content, copy and paste the content’s web address into the provided Website URL field.

To host your content online, either upload it to a free streaming content website (e.g. YouTube) or talk to your IT person about adding it to your station’s website.

Make sure the content will be accessible online throughout the contest and awards process.

Here are some examples of free streaming content websites where you can upload audio and video content:

Audio: www.kiwi6.com, www.tindeck.com

Video: www.youtube.com, www.vimeo.com

IMPORTANT: Please ensure that items are not behind a paywall or a password-protected area.

If they are, you must provide username/password info in the Comments section of your entry.

Judges may disqualify your entry if work samples are inaccessible.

Add Credits for each person responsible for the entry content.

Add Comments (if available), but keep them brief (e.g. 100 words).

Click Submit.

Pay for Entries

When all entries are submitted (but before the Entry Deadline), log in to your account’s Manage Entries page.

Click Calculate Entry Fee (middle right) and review your list of entries for accuracy.

Scroll to the bottom of the list for your Entry Fee Subtotal (lower right).

Click the payment link (lower left) to pay for your contest entries, following the instructions on the payment page.

(Optional) Click the Print icon (upper right) to print your list of entries and fees.

Remember entries must be the original work of journalists based in the Chicago area or who work for Chicago-area news media.

The contest covers Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry and Will counties in Illinois and Lake, LaPorte and Porter in Indiana.

Nominations may be made by the author or by any other person.

Nominees need not be members of the Chicago Headline Club.

Reports must have been published or aired between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012.

All nominations must meet standards set forth in the Society of Professional Journalists’ code of ethics (spj.org/ethics).

Entries should include all related corrections, clarifications or retractions.

Up to three individuals may be named on a team entry; otherwise the nomination must be made in the name of newsroom staff.

Comments are allowed stating the project’s goals, obstacles and results, or listing contributing staff members.

The Chicago Headline Club is not responsible for errors or omissions in the nomination materials.