Critique Service
Evaluate your student-media work with an NSPA critique. It’s one of the best ways to assess your strengths and your challenges, and it provides helpful advice on improving how you serve readers. As part of the critique process, all student media are scored in several categories, including coverage, writing and design. The composite score from all sections awards an honor rating ranging from Third Class to All-American. The All-American rating is the highest rating given in the critique service. Media earning 10 All American honor ratings in an 11-year span are inducted into the NSPA Hall of Fame.
A membership is required to purchase a critique. NSPA membership is offered by publication not by the school or individual. For example, if your school has both Broadcast and Yearbook, a membership is required for both.
NSPA offers memberships and critiques for five types of student media:
Broadcast
Literary Arts Magazine
Newspaper/Newsmagazine
Website
Yearbook
When purchasing a critique, members have two options — Traditional and Virtual. The Annotated/Super Critique has been discontinued.
Critiques submitted by June 30 require 10-14 weeks for completion. Since critiques are completed in the order they are received by NSPA, turnaround time increases after June 30.
TRADITIONAL CRITIQUE ($129)
After reviewing your publication, the judge provides a written critique along with a score and honor rating. Critiques are available for review by the adviser in the membership portal under “Critiques.” Critiques from previous years are also archived there.
VIRTUAL CRITIQUE ($159)
After reviewing your publication, the judge provides a score and honor rating. The scores and honor rating are available to the adviser in the membership portal under “Critiques.” The judge provides the comments during an interactive one-hour virtual online session. The session is recorded and a video file is shared with the adviser.
NSPA Hall of Fame
The National Scholastic Press Association Hall of Fame represents sustained excellence by scholastic media.
Publications on this list have qualified by earning 10 All-American ratings from the NSPA Critique Service within an 11-year span.
Apply for Hall of Fame status by emailing a letter to critiques@studentpress.org indicating the name of the publication, and the ratings it has received in the past 11-years. The deadline is Jan. 15 of each school year. NSPA then confirms the rating history. In February, the association announces the year’s Hall of Fame inductees.
Hall of Fame recipients have the option of being recognized during the current school year at the Spring National High School Journalism Convention or during the following school year at the Fall National High School Journalism Convention.
In 1988, 13 publications were charter members. Since then, 243 magazines, newspapers, websites and yearbooks have earned a place in the NSPA record books. Two publications have been inducted twice by earning 20 All-American ratings within a 22-year span.
“The Hall of Fame represents sustained excellence,” Laura Widmer, NSPA executive director said. “This is a very significant achievement reflecting a school culture that values and supports student media that is produced by talented and dedicated students guided by faculty advisers who empower students.”