NSPA ANNOUNCES 2010 MAGAZINE AND DIGITAL YEARBOOK PACEMAKER FINALISTS; 2011 ONLINE PACEMAKER FINALISTS
Contact Kathy Huting, NSPA contest and critique coordinator, at kathy@studentpress.org
Magazine Pacemaker Finalists
View gallery and list of winners
The 2010 Magazine Pacemaker contest, which recognizes high school literary magazines published during the 2009-2010 school year, yielded a total of 63 entries from around the country. A team of professionals at Rain Taxi Review of Books selected 14 finalists out of the 63 entries.
“These fourteen finalists best demonstrate the balance of quality writing and editing, stunning visual imagery, and attention to layout and design that make for a cohesive magazine,” said one judge from the team.
The winners will be announced for the first time at the spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday, April 16, 2011.
A full listing of comments from the Magazine Pacemaker judging team will be published after the spring convention.
Digital Yearbook Pacemaker Finalists
View gallery and list of winners
The 2010 Digital Yearbook Pacemaker contest was judged by Sarah Howard, a Twin Cities professional journalist and former Yearbook Pacemaker judge. The contest yielded a total of 28 entries, eight of which were selected as finalists. The entries were judged holistically based on content, concept, editing, design, use of multimedia, student work and the way in which the DVD supplement related to the print product. Comments from the judge can be found below.
The winners will be announced for the first time at the spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday, April 16, 2011.
Digital Yearbook Pacemaker judge comments:
The DVDs that ranked highest in my opinion were ones that went outside of the box as far as content. It was DVDs that showed more of student life. What do students do outside of school? What makes this school tick? Using video and reporting allows a yearbook to jump off of the pages, so it was nice when a DVD complimented the book in theme, but, obviously, did not just take right from the book. Content that gave life to the book but also allowed the yearbook staff to show some creativity that isn’t possibly on flat pages was nice. DVDs that showed student creativity and showed that students really thought about their theme and school were impressive. Clean design and easy-to-use menus and format were a large factor in my judging, as well.
Online Pacemaker Finalists
View gallery and list of winners
The 2011 NSPA Online Pacemaker contest saw a 25 percent increase in entries from the 2010 contest. A total of 166 high school websites entered the contest to compete for the top awards. 36 sites were chosen as finalists out of the total by a team of new media experts at the Star Tribune. Entries were judged holistically based on content, design, writing and editing, rich media and breaking news. Comments from the judging team can be found below.
The winners will be announced for the first time at the spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention in Anaheim, Calif., on Saturday, April 16, 2011.
Online Pacemaker judging team comments:
First, it is important to put the name and location of the school on the site. While most of your visitors will know this, it is still an important detail that every publication (on or offline) should present. Plus it has an impact on how search engines will see your site.
Second, the front page of your website should not include content that is older than a month or two. The web ages quickly and old stories indicate that the editorial team isn’t updating very often and visitors aren’t coming frequently. It is more desirable to have a shorter page with less content than to have a long page with items that are out of date.
Content carousels are cool but should be used deliberately and not because a CMS template offers them. Consider how long each slide is shown, how the animation works, how to place the captions. You must have compelling photography for these to be effective, if a story doesn’t have good image you should not splash it across the top of the page. Also, check to make sure that there is as little duplication as possible: some sites have the same story in three or four places on the front page.
Remember that this is the web and not a print. When you just transport the print work over to the web it shows. Much of what is produced for print may be used on the web, but it should be considered for the new form (hyperlinks added, photos added, etc) to become “web native.†This is a problem all over journalism and it was sad to see some student publications fall into the trap that many professional media organizations are trying to dig themselves out of these days.
Finally, and most importantly, make sure that you are communicating towards a specific audience. Is your site something that your peers would seek out? Is everything you’ve included important to them? The best sites are the ones that engage their readers through effective communication to that audience. Be sure to know who you are writing/designing/developing for.
The top sites set themselves apart by succeeding on these dimensions. These sites also stood apart for: