SPJ contest drew many entries

The number of entries this year exceeded those in previous years

SPJ contest participation on the rise

By Catherine Hockmuth, San Diego Pro Chapter

Freelance journalist

The San Diego Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has seen an uptick in entries for its annual journalism contest in 2007. The chapter received a total of 687 entries, up from 640 in 2006 and 564 in 2005.

Participation rose in all eight divisions except three: Online; Newspaper Design Layout and Photography; and Special Awards. There were no entries for the First Amendment Award.

The biggest increases came in Television and Video entries, which jumped from just 16 in 2006 to 39 in 2007, and Daily Reporting and Writing, a new category that includes daily newspaper reporting and online reporting not related to site design and interactive features.

The board of the San Diego Pro Chapter voted to merge online and newspaper reporting earlier this year in recognition of the technological revolution occurring in journalism and the changing tastes of media audiences. In addition to allowing online journalists to compete against print journalists, the board voted to allow online journalists to submit their video reports in the television division and their audio reports in the radio division. Likewise, television and radio reporters who produced print stories for their station's Web sites were invited to enter those stories in the Daily Reporting and Writing division.

"As media converges and people begin to read, listen to and watch the news in sometimes the same space, we have tried to come up with a system that understands that and yet still creates a forum for us to compare our successes," the board wrote in a March letter to members explaining the contest changes. "It's an adjustment that we believe creates a healthier, simpler, more open competition that more truly reflects San Diego’s media landscape."