EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM AWARDS

CTSPJ College Journalism Contest

The Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists' annual college contest will be open for entries from April 15 through May 6, 2024.

The contest is for entries of work by CT college student journalists published or broadcast during the 2023-24 academic year. The deadline to enter is 11:59 p.m. on May 6.

The contest categories are:

Reporting
Audio storytelling
General reporting
Feature story
Spot News story

Sports
Sports feature story
Sports news story

Opinion
General Column/Commentary
Editorial/Op-Ed
Photo and video
Feature photo
News Photo
Sports Photo
Video storytelling

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COLLEGE CONTEST INSTRUCTIONS

You'll need:

  •  A user name and password: Register for a new account on the site here.
  • Know which categories your entries are in
  • The date each entry was published (must be during the 2023-2024 academic year, although you will have to select 2023 as the year when you enter)
  • Your SPJ student member number, if you are a member entering on your own behalf
  • A credit card number or check
  • A working link to each entry, or a file in one of the following formats

- Audio: .mp3
- Video: .mov, .mp4, .wmv, .avi
- Images: .jpg, .gif, .png, .pdf
- Print: PDF or JPG version of the page the article appeared on

The entry fees are:
- $5 for college SPJ members (membership ID number required)
- $10 for non-members and college media outlets paying for entries

New this year: If you're paying with a credit card, you'll be redirected to the third-party payment platform Stripe.

If you do not see your publication on the entry list, please contact contest clerk Kathleen Farmer at kathleenctspj@gmail.com. 

STEPS TO ENTER

- Register for an account on the contest site here
- Log in to the site using your new account. 
- From the Main Category drop down menu, select "College Contest."

The work must have been published online or in print, or broadcast or streamed.

While the entries must be from the 2023-24 academic year, a technical error on the website makes it so that you MUST enter the year 2023 on the contest site. (Judges will verify that the work was published/broadcast during the 2023-24 academic year).

Contest winners will be announced on our Facebook page and on our website in June. Certificates will be mailed out to all winners through their school.

Good luck!

CTSPJ Excellence in Journalism Contest 

The Connecticut SPJ Excellence in Journalism Contest, which recognizes the best local journalism from the previous year, is now closed for entries.

Thank you to everyone who entered, and good luck!

Journalists from an out-of-state SPJ chapter will be judging the entries in the next month, and we'll announce the winners in the spring.

The judging is made possible because CT SPJ receives entries to judge from other chapters.

If you're interested in judging the other chapter's contest this year (in April or May) email Martha Shanahan at mshanahan@connecticutspj.org.

Thanks!

  If you are a judge looking for the judging overview page, click here