Questions from the past

Here are a few questions (and answers!) that I have received in past contest years.

Q: Holly,

I'm working on a series that will start on Sept. 30 and conclude Oct. 3.
Would that have to be entered in the 2007-08 contest?

A: That is correct. If a series spans two contest years, it must be entered in the contest year in which it is completed.


Q: Dear Holly,

I was reviewing the guidelines or the 2005 News, Editorial, and Photojournalism Contest and I have a question. The entries for Special Section are submitted as a whole section by the staff, correct? If I wrote an article in a special section that I feel could be a viable entry in another category, can that article be pulled out and submitted in the appropriate category. Or, is the article considered to already have been entered due to its inclusion in the special section?

A: It is absolutely fine for you to enter this as an individual entry separately from the Special section. If a whole section is entered in any category that requires this, the individual stories in that section are still eligible to be entered in other categories.


Q: If we have a single-story entry that is a sort of large, main bar with a small sidebar that goes with it, should we exclude the sidebar since it is technically a second article? I ask because a couple stories I've done have large, comprehensive main bars with just small, 10 or 12-inch sidebars that were separated out essentially to break the thing up for design purposes. The sidebar clearly goes with and enhances the main bar, but it is, by definition, a second story.

A: It should be fine for you to include these. Most of the categories that it sounds like this would fit say something like, “A hard-news story or stories covering a single event…” or “A single feature article or series of articles about any news subject…”