NSPA News & Notes

NSPA INTRODUCES MULTIMEDIA STORY OF THE YEAR CONTEST

Contact: contests@studentpress.org

The National Scholastic Press Association is pleased to announce a new Individual Awards contest this year: Multimedia Story of the Year. This contest’s categories include News, Feature and Sports. All NSPA member print and online publications qualify for entry.

In previous years NSPA had a single multimedia category within the print Story of the Year contest. After seeing a dramatic increase in multimedia submissions over the past two years NSPA created a separate contest in order to better recognize excellent student work in multimedia reporting.

Entries to the Multimedia Story of the Year contest may be submitted online. There is a limit of two entries per category for each member publication. The contest deadline is Friday, June 15, 2012, and the finalists will be announced in September 2012.

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Mark your calendar for a live online chat, “How to Use Your NSPA Critique,” Tuesday, June 5 at 5:30 p.m. CDT.

If you get a critique, do you just look at the rating and comments and file it away? Why not take advantage of this powerful educational tool? Join a live online chat for tips and ideas on making the most of your NSPA critique once it’s returned from the judge. Veteran advisers Kathy Habiger of Mill Valley High School in Kansas and Sarah Nichols of Whitney High School in California will provide tips on sharing the critique with your staff, setting goals and getting the most from this critical tool. You’ll be able to pose questions and share your secrets for success, too.

Click here to join the event at CoverItLive.com. (You can sign up any time and get reminders.)

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At one of the plenary keynote sessions of the two organizations’ semi-annual conventions, Mr. Dan Savage had been invited to share with students the power of social media in today’s world as well as speak about the problem of bullying of gay youth, an issue all too familiar in many American schools. Mr. Savage’s comments on April 13 veered from the topic however. At a point in his speech he criticized the Bible, at times using vulgar language. An immediate consequence was that some students and advisers walked out on the speech.

NSPA and JEA consider Mr. Savage’s use of harsh language and profanity to be inappropriate and offensive to many in attendance. This is not what our organizations expected. In his attempt to denounce bullying, Mr. Savage belittled the faith of others – an action that we do not support. Ridicule of others’ faith has no place in our programs, any more than ridicule of the LGBT community would.

Student journalism, like professional journalism, is built on the foundation of free speech. It should not shy away from controversial topics and viewpoints. But it should promote and engage in civil discourse. Mr. Savage’s speech fell short of that standard, and for this our organizations apologize.

Mr. Savage has also apologized for using inappropriate language in front of the convention audience.

The two organizations will review their procedures to assure the appropriateness of content to student audiences.

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JOIN NSPA FOR A SPECIAL EVENT NEXT TUESDAY, MAY 1:

NSPA will host a live chat on CoverItLive, “Inspiration from the Online Pacemakers,” from 6-7 p.m. CDT with Lauren Rabaino, online producer for The Seattle Times, and Logan Aimone, NSPA executive director. Rabaino worked on the staff of Pacemaker-winning websites in high school and college, so she’s in a perfect position to look at this year’s Pacemakers and showcase the highlights. She’ll share her unique perspective and give tips to improve any news website.

Please also invite your staff, especially Web editors, to participate. Or, participate as a group and project the screen for the whole staff to see.

Go to this link: http://nspa.coverpage.coveritlive.com

If you’ve never participated in a live chat, here’s your chance to experiment and learn something new!

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Contact: contests@studentpress.org

Three scholastic newspaper journalists will receive scholarships from the National Scholastic Press Association for their accomplishments in academics and journalism.

Michael Cheung of Venice High School in Los Angeles has been selected as the winner of the $1,000 NSPA Wikoff Scholarship for Editorial Leadership out of 65 total entrants.

In recognition of his service to the National Scholastic Press Association as its executive director in the 1970s, NSPA has offered the Wally Wikoff Scholarship for Editorial Leadership since 1998. Entrants must submit three published editorials and must also possess at least a 3.5 cumulative grade point average on a 4.0 scale. A recommendation letter from the publication adviser is also required.

Cheung served in varied roles for the Oarsman newspaper, including co-editor in chief. The Wikoff scholarship judge made the following remarks about his entry: “All of Michael’s editorials were cerebral without being pretentious. He’s a strong writer who can turn a phrase creatively. He showed that he isn’t afraid to speak truth to power, to call out school administrators by name and deed when they abused their authority. His editorial slamming prior review was especially outstanding.”

Linley Sanders, editor in chief of The Express newspaper at Blue Valley Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kan., has been named the winner of the $1,000 NSPA Journalism Honor Roll Scholarship out of 77 entries. The judge cited her writing ability, evident in the essay, which used dialog to bring the reader to the scene as she prepared to interview a student dying of cancer. “Linley wrote that she learned … to keep fighting even when life isn’t fair. She used this moving experience to bolster her own self confidence as a journalist and to improve her interviewing skills by asking, waiting, listening and repeating the question if need be.”

Mitchell Handler, managing editor of the Oarsman at Venice High School in Los Angeles, was chosen as runner-up in the Journalism Honor Roll scholarship contest and will receive a $500 scholarship to the college or university he plans to attend.

Journalism Honor Roll scholarship applicants must possess a cumulative 3.75 grade point average on a 4.0 scale and also submit an essay on why they plan to pursue a career in journalism. The publication adviser must recommend the applicant.

Scholarship recipients will be recognized at the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention on Saturday, April 14, in Seattle.

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View finalists list with links and screenshots

The 2012 NSPA Online Pacemaker contest, which recognizes high school publication websites, yielded a total of 159 entries. 31 sites were chosen as finalists out of the total by a team of three professionals assembled from across the country. Entries were judged holistically based on content, design, writing and editing, rich media and breaking news.
?The winners will be announced for the first time at the spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle on Saturday, April 14, 2012.

A full listing of comments from the Online Pacemaker judging team will be published after the spring convention.

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The 17th edition of “Best of High School Press,” NSPA’s annual publication showcasing the best student work from its member publications, is on its way to current members in the mail.

More than 400 images from 240 different publications are represented in “Best of the High School Press 17.” Most of the book’s content covers student work from the 2010-11 school year, although some material is as recent as the current school year, such as the Fall 2011 JEA/NSPA convention Best of Show winners.

The book, published in hardcover for the first time ever, features winners of NSPA’s contests, as well as work selected by judges specifically for “Best of the High School Press” from more than 6,000 digital files submitted by NSPA’s members.

“This 17th edition is stronger than ever,” NSPA executive director Logan Aimone writes in the preface to “Best of the High School Press 17.” “Each year, the work submitted raises the bar of excellence for the nation’s top student journalism.”

NSPA would like to thank Friesens Yearbooks for sponsoring the printing of “Best of the High School Press 17,” the first such sponsorship since 2000. “We want to thank NSPA, advisers, school administration, and all of the hard working students that make Best of the High School Press possible,” said Paul Friesen, Print Sales Consultant for Friesens. “It is an honor to sponsor this book.”

To order additional copies of the book, which includes a CD-ROM of all the book’s images for educational use, visit the studentpress.org store page.

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Contact Kate Brickman, NSPA contest and critique coordinator, at contests@studentpress.org

View the list of finalists

The 2011 Magazine Pacemaker contest, which recognizes high school literary magazines published during the 2010-2011 school year, yielded a total of 56 entries from around the country.

A team of professionals at the Alaska Quarterly Review selected 12 finalists out of the 56 entries. One of the magazines is a first-time NSPA Magazine Pacemaker finalist.

The judging team said the winning entries contained impressive content, were elegant and imaginative, had strong literary content, and displayed exceptional art and photography presented in a clean, uncluttered layout.

The winners will be announced for the first time at the spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle on Saturday, April 14, 2012.

A full listing of comments from the Magazine Pacemaker judging team will be published after the spring convention.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Kate Brickman, NSPA contest and critique coordinator, contests@studentpress.org

2011 NSPA Yearbook Pacemaker Finalists Announced

View finalists list and covers gallery

MINNEAPOLIS — The National Scholastic Press Association has announced 55 high school yearbook finalists and six junior high/middle school finalists in its 2011 Yearbook Pacemaker contest. A total of 422 yearbooks entered the contest. A team of judges comprised of experienced journalism professionals and educators traveled to Minneapolis in late January to select the finalists.

Judges commented that the books chosen as finalists had themes that connected to the entire school year, thorough coverage that told unique and personal stories, detailed writing filled with student quotes, beautiful, compelling photography and innovative and sophisticated design.

High school entries were divided into four categories based on total page count, and junior high books were judged separately in one category. Judges completed an initial elimination round and considered a number of factors as disqualifiers, such as appropriate photo use and lack of an index and colophon. After the elimination round, judges spent a day and a half selecting finalists.

Seventeen of the 61 yearbooks, or roughly one in four, are first-time finalists in the NSPA Yearbook Pacemaker contest.

The Pacemaker winners will be announced for the first time at the Spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Seattle, April 12-15. Registration is now available online at studentpress.org/nspa.

Comments from the judging team will be published on the NSPA website before the spring convention. Since 1927, The Pacemaker has been the highest NSPA award for general excellence.

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Bryan Hess and Sarah Schaeffer of the Penn Points newspaper, Penn Manor High School, Millersville, Pa., were chosen as winners of NSPA’s $1,000 Brasler Prize for 2011.

Hess and Schaeffer’s story, “Life has a different meaning for juveniles tried as adults,” was selected by Wayne Brasler, for whom the contest is named, from the five First Place winners in print categories of the NSPA Story of the Year contest. Brasler’s comments on the winning entry, which placed first in the Feature category:

In a story few student newspapers would conceive much less pursue, the Penn Points staff established and continued correspondence with juveniles who had been charged as adults for their crimes and were serving life sentences in adult correctional facilities in Pennsylvania.

The impetus for doing the story was Pennsylvania having the most juveniles with life sentences in the United States of any state. Writers Hess and Schaeffer used excerpts from correspondence with the juveniles, choosing to preserve them as written without correcting grammar or punctuation. This decision results in quotes which deliver information at multiple levels and ring with truth. They are backed up with facts and figures, as well as observations from interviews with a variety of experts dealing with juveniles from the criminal justice system. The story repeatedly comes up startling but within an environment of intelligence, balance and equal respect for all sources.

This is challenging and venturesome journalism, but also highly educational with impact to readers of any age or background.  The writing approach is simple, fluid, conversational and consequently compelling.  There’s nothing extraneous and nothing obvious. Everything about this unusual and courageous project seems just right.

Wayne Brasler is a longtime media adviser at the University of Chicago High School who served for many years on NSPA’s Board of Directors and authored multiple editions of the NSPA Newspaper Guidebook.

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