Canadian Community Newspapers Association
2004 Better Newspapers Competition
The CCNA 2004 Better Newspapers Competition
(BNC) submission deadline has now passed. Finalists have been announced. The
winners will be announced at the 85th CCNA Annual Convention,
Perspectives 2004.
»
View the 2004 BNC Winners
Book, on-line version
» View the 2004
BNC List of Winners
» Download
the 2004 Winner's and Blue Ribbon Logos
If you encounter technical difficulties when
viewing or downloading any of the above links, please contact Tiffany Conroy at
tconroy@ccna.ca,
or by calling 1-877-305-2262, extension 28.
Highlights of changes for 2004
Canadian Community Newspapers Association
(CCNA) members will benefit with more chances to win and greater educational benefit
through enhancements to the association’s Better Newspapers Competition
(BNC), effective in 2004.
The CCNA board of directors approved eight
recommendations of the BNC committee at their September 11, 2003, meeting held
via teleconference. The enhancements primarily impact the General Excellence awards
division of the BNC, considered the most coveted awards of the competition.
Changes to the General Excellence
awards
From 1997 to 2003, the General Excellence
awards were structured as a two-tiered competition. In that system, members had
to enter and win regionally in order to compete at the national level. Citing
the limited educational value of the system, the CCNA board of directors voted
to abandon the system in favour of separate direct-entry competitions at the two
levels. Beginning in 2004, members will have the option of entering either or
both of their regional and national competitions, increasing their opportunities
to be adjudicated and to win.
The recently approved enhancements are for
implementation by CCNA at the national level only. They are as follows:
1. CCNA will continue to
use circulation to define General Excellence classes of competition. A total of
eight circulation classes will be established for General Excellence, instead
of the previous six. Those classes will be:
-
up to 1,249
-
1,250 - 1,999
-
2,000 - 2,999
-
3,000 - 3,999
-
4,000 - 6,499
-
6,500 - 12,499
-
12,500 - 24,999
-
25,000 and over
Since roughly 65 per cent of CCNA members have circulations under 6,500, the
new classes take into account this large proportion of rural and small-circulation
newspapers and give them more opportunities to win. In developing the eight classes,
CCNA adjusted the ranges of the first three circulation classes to arrive at five
classes with a more even distribution. The remaining three classes for greater-circulation
newspapers will be unchanged.
2. For a trial period of 2004, it was agreed that a new formal
policy for selecting judges, based in part on OCNA criteria, would be followed.
It is largely the same criteria for selecting judges as in the past, but the OCNA
criteria effectively formalized and in some instances clarified the procedures.
The policy is as follows:
An individual will be considered eligible to judge if s/he:
a) meets both of the following criteria:
- have significant work experience relevant to the category to be judged;
- not have any conflict of interest such as being employed by a newspaper that
is eligible to enter the circulation class in question.
and
b) meets one or more of the following additional criteria:
- experience as a past judge in the category to be judged or a similar category;
- expertise as a past winner in the category to be judged or a similar category;
- nominated to judge by a peer at a member newspaper;
- be employed in the newspaper industry, at a newspaper of circulation size
comparable to the circulation class to be judged;
- be employed in a field related to the category to be judged. This includes,
but is not limited to, journalism professors at the post-secondary level and other
individuals working in related fields such as advertising or photography.
3. General Excellence judging criteria will be simplified
so that judges make their decisions based on three broad categories—editorial,
advertising and typography—using a new, non-numerical system. Additionally,
rather than provide scores, judges will be required to provide a brief critique
of each publication entered in the General Excellence class which they judge.
Their comments will be published for members. In return, judges will receive a
$500 honorarium for their efforts.
Judges will also select - as has been done in the past - first, second and
third place for best front page and editorial page.
4. The following fees for entering the BNC will be introduced
in 2004:
- General Excellence $50 flat fee;
- Premier Awards and Special Competitions $50 base fee plus $5 for each specific
entry.
All fees subject to 7% GST.
5. General Excellence entry selection: CCNA will change its
process for selecting two issues for General Excellence, from a monthly basis
to a week number basis; and further, non-weeklies will be accommodated so that
monthlies, bi-weeklies and any papers that did not publish during a chosen week
(for example, due to summer hours), would enter an issue from the first week that
they published immediately following the week number chosen.
New Rural Secretariat Rural Journalism Award
Apart from General Excellence, CCNA is also working with the Rural Secretariat
on a rural journalism category. The new award is expected to be included in the
2004 Premier Awards division of the BNC.
If you have other questions, call the CCNA office at 1-877-305-2262.
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