Rules & Eligibility
Review this page before starting your submission. If you have more specific questions about rules and eligibility, please contact us at chi.headlineclub.lisagorawards@gmail.com.
Submissions for the 2024 Peter Lisagor Awards are open December 3, 2024 to February 3, 2024. Entries must be submitted through the online platform. To enter, fill out entry forms for each entry across all categories. Then pay for the total number of awards entries. Submissions close on Monday, February 3 at 11:59 p.m. CST.
Eligibility
The Peter Lisagor Awards are open to newsrooms of all types (websites, blogs, podcasts, TV/radio stations). No entries can be sponsored by the subject(s) of the journalism. No marketing or public relations materials will be permitted. Entries must be produced by journalists from the Chicago Headline Club’s membership area of Illinois or Northwest Indiana AND must focus on subjects in the region.
For example, an article in the Chicago Gazette about Milwaukee’s last typewriter factory would not qualify, but an article by a Chicago-based reporter for the New York Sun-Tribune-Chronicle about the best sourdough in Springfield would qualify.
Publication Date
The 2024 Peter Lisagor Awards are open to work published between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024. Submissions close on Monday, February 3 at 11:59 p.m. CST.
Multiple Entries
You may only enter the same project into three categories; you may reference entries in portfolio categories, but one project/story may not be the primary part of more than three entries.
Size Categories
Some categories are broken out by size, which is determined by the total number of the organization’s full-time or equivalent employees who focus on or support newsroom production (even indirectly). Size and medium categories may be combined if fewer than five entries are received in a single category.
- Small newsroom: For an entrant to be considered “small,” the organization must have 50 employees or fewer.
- Large newsroom: For an entrant to be considered “large,” the organization must have more than 50 employees.
- Audio: Entries must be standalone audio pieces rather than part of a larger project with written or video components.
- Video: Entries must be standalone video pieces rather than part of a larger project with written or audio components.
- Student: Entries must be written or produced by journalists who were college or high school students at the time of publication or broadcast, and must have been published or broadcast in a college or high school media outlet.
Entries that are submitted in wrong or multiple circulation divisions will be disqualified and non-refundable.
Entries in series categories must include no more than three cohesive pieces. Series entries that do not involve a central, cohesive subject will be disqualified. (For example, three pieces about the effects of a school bond would be allowed. General beat reporting about schools would not be allowed.)
Entry Fees
The Chicago Headline Club offers a few pricing tiers for entries:
- Early bird entry — apply by Monday, December 30 at 11:59 p.m.
- Members: $35
- Non members: $55
- Student: $15
- Regular entry — apply by Monday, January 20 at 11:59 p.m.
- Members: $40
- Non members: $60
- Student members: $10
- Student: $20
- Last chance entry — apply by Monday, February 3 at 11:59 p.m.
- Members: $50
- Non members: $65
- Student: $25
If you’d like to become a Chicago Headline Club member, join here.
Entry Evaluation
Finalists and winners are determined by members of another local SPJ chapter. The judges reserve the right not to assign a winner in a particular category and no refunds will be issued in that case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have other questions? Visit our FAQ page.