2011 SPJ Northwest Excellence in Journalism Contest Calls for Entries

Online, January 25, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Today Region 10 of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) announced its call for entries for the 2011 SPJ Northwest Excellence in Journalism contest. The contest honors exceptional journalism published or produced in 2011 in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and Montana in all forms of media (print, online, radio, and TV). Both SPJ and non-SPJ members are invited to participate in the contest.

The SPJ Northwest Excellence in Journalism contest is officially accepting entries today through 9:59 pm (PST) on Monday, February 20, 2012. SPJ Regional Director Dana Neuts, a freelance journalist in Kent, Washington, highlights several changes to this year's contest:

• Revisions have been made to the Online portion of the contest to better reflect this evolving medium.
• This year's contest is being administered through Better Newspaper Contest (Small Town Newspapers). All entries, except General Excellence, will be submitted and judged online.
• SPJ members will receive a $5 discount on contest entry submissions, $20 for regular entries and $50 for General Excellence entries. Non-SPJ members will pay $25 and $45, respectively.

In the 2010 contest, approximately 2,500 entries in 200 categories were received from around the region. A similar number is anticipated this year. In March, entries will be submitted to out-of-state journalists for judging, due back in April. Preliminary winners' notifications will be made in mid to late April. The Western Washington Pro and Southwestern Washington/Oregon Pro SPJ chapters will present awards to those in their respective chapters at awards banquets in Seattle and Portland on Saturday, May 19. The remaining awards will be announced online that evening and presented by their respective chapter leaders.

For more information about the contest, including contest rules, categories and entry instructions, please visit the Region 10 website athttp://blogs.spjnetwork.org/region10/. For questions, please contact contest administrator Ruth Pettis at [email protected] or 206-781-8097 or contest coordinator Dana Neuts at [email protected] or 360-920-1737.

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