All or some of the following categories are within each division.
General Excellence: A news organization’s quality, strength and consistency over the contest year.
Breaking News: Coverage of a single news event in the 24 hours after it breaks. Can be reactive reporting of news that breaks, or proactive news broken by a reporter or news organization’s reporting staff. Judges will be asked to give greater weight to the latter.
Investigative: In-depth, watchdog reporting that: a) presents important information that was unknown to the public and was unavailable from other sources before publication; and b) demonstrates an obvious need for change in law/policy/behavior.
Explanatory: In-depth reporting that presents, defines, unpacks, and simplifies a single important topic and/or news event in a way that allows the reader to understand it more clearly.
Feature: A single story or series that: a) does not require a time element to be relevant; and b) demonstrates creative approaches to writing and/or presentation.
Commentary: Coverage that reflects the point of view of a writer, writers, and/or news organization. Includes blogs as well as unsigned editorials and individual columns.
(updated 11/17/2015)
