Is it one event?

Rick Mercier of the Clayton News-Star has this question for us:

We have had a drawn-out legal battle over a botched election here in Clayton last November. The N.C. Court of Appeals handed down a final opinion in the case on Sept. 16, but there are still lingering legal questions. We have been covering the botched election and legal wrangling (with its myriad twists and turns) all along since last November.
Should this be considered a single event? If so, should we include all 15-20 articles we've written on this in an entry in the general news category? If it's not a single event, how to break our coverage into separate entries? Articles about the election and post-election audit by the elections board in one entry, articles about the case winding through the legal system as another entry?
Advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Under the circumstances you cite, Rick, I'd said it is a single event and qualifies for the General News category. In this case the single event stretched over more than three quarters of the year, but it all pertains to the same specific topic.

The other potential category might be News Enterprise Reporting. But take a look at part of the category description:

One or more stories on the same subject going beyond routine reporting and demonstrating initiative and thoroughness in examining a trend, issue or social problem.

Whether your story would fit here really depends on the work you had to do.

The other part of your question is whether you include all 15-20 articles in your entry. That's a decision you have to make. Here are some factors you might want to consider:

• How long are the articles? Remember that this contest is judged by your peers in other states. How much are they going to want to read before moving on to the next entry in a large stack? Hard to tell, but probably few judges reward weight.
• Are some of the articles mostly repetitive of previous stories? Maybe those could be weeded out.
• Do the articles feed on each other so that the series wouldn't make sense without one article or another?

In the end, how many articles you include is up to you. Good luck and thanks for the question.

New Media differences

Jennifer posed this question to the blog:

Hi, I am a little unclear on the difference between the "best use of an interactive feature" and "best multimedia project" categories. Specifically, the interactive feature description mentions "multiple ways for users to interact and participate in the story" -- does that mean participate as in submitting their own comments/photos/information, or would databases and photo galleries (in which users can click around and filter results, but not submit their own information) also fall into that "interactive" category? We have a few sections online that include a number of elements -- multiple stories, photo galleries, videos, a database in one case, a blog in another case. I am just trying to determine where to enter those sections.

Also, if I enter an online section (for interactive or multimedia) that includes multiple print stories and other elements, none of those stories or photos can be entered in other categories, correct? Sorry this is such a long series of questions!

Thanks for the question, Jennifer. These categories are only in their second year, so it’s easy to get confused about them. Let’s see if this explanation will help…

First, notice the difference in wording between the “interactive” category and the “multimedia” category. The first contemplates some part of your Web site (or a subsite) that offers a variety of ways for the user to be involved. That could include databases, comments, photos and much more (perhaps even a game). The category isn’t about a “news story,” but it should involve one topic. Judging here should focus on both the quantity and quality of the interactive features and their effectiveness.

Best Multimedia Project does involve a “news story.” And it is about more than what appears on your Web site. The concept involves how you integrated your coverage of a news event between your printed product and new media. Again, both quantity and quality count here. The bigger variety of media used to tell the story the better. But we’re pretty sure that judges will heavily weigh how good the material used is in making their decisions.

On your last question, you are correct. What you enter in these categories cannot be entered elsewhere. The exception to that would be items entered in the “Special Awards” competitions, such as Public Service, Community Service and the Hugh Morton Award.

Hope this helps.

Community Division Criticism category

Here's a question we received in the comments section:

I have a question about the community category #28 -- criticism. I've pasted the description below. I'm wondering how many entries our paper can submit in this category. Also, I'm uncertain as to whether all three articles in an entry have to be by the same author.

28. *CRITICISM — Three (no more, no fewer) locally written reviews (not editorial or columns) of art, entertainment, architecture, dining or literature. Judging will be based on clarity, grasp of subject and originality. Clippings should be entered, not whole newspaper pages. The three reviews constitute one entry. Please enclose all three reviews in the same manila folder with one entry form.

* All criticism entries from Divisions A-C and specialty papers will be judged together.

Here's our answer: There is no limit on the number of entries per paper for the Criticism category, but only one entry may be submitted per person. The required three reviews must all be by the same writer. Let me know if you need any further clarification!