Entry Deadline:
February 4, 2025
Entries accepted beginning November 3, 2024
2023 National Mark of Excellence Awards Honorees
The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to present the
national winners of the 2023
Mark of Excellence Awards,
recognizing collegiate work published or broadcast during 2023.
Follow this link to see a list of winners and view their work.
Annually, the Society of Professional Journalists presents the Mark of Excellence Awards, honoring the best in student journalism.
Most categories are first judged on the regional level. First-place regional winners advance to the national competition, and most are recognized at their respective regional SPJ conference. National winners will be showcased on spj.org.
In addition to physical awards and recognition, two awards carry cash prizes. The Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best Student Newspaper, large and small divisions, each is accompanied by a $5,000 prize courtesy of the Chronicle of Higher Education.
A best in show (MOEy) award will be given for the overall best entry among all national winners. The winner will be honored at the SDX Awards dinner.
Winners in the following categories are only eligible for a MOEy only if they cover a single topic. All other category national winners are eligible:
- Corbin Gwaltney Award for Best All-Around Student Newspaper
- Best All-Around Radio Newscast
- Best All-Around Television Newscast
- Best All-Around Television News Magazine
- Best Affiliated Website
- Best Independent Online Student Publication
- Best Podcast
Jump to:
Eligibility
- The contest is open to anyone who is enrolled in a U.S. or international college or university in 2024, while studying for an academic degree. International SPJ student members may also enter. Students who have had full-time professional journalism experience, outside of internships at the time of publication or broadcast of the entered work are ineligible. Work performed as a paid freelancer or part-time employee is not eligible. A group entry that includes any work by someone with full-time professional experience will be disqualified.
- The entrant must have been enrolled as a student at the time of publication or broadcast.
- Work published or broadcast while working as a student intern is acceptable.
- Unpublished manuscripts, classroom exercises and unaired news broadcasts do not qualify. A classroom exercise is defined as work assigned for a grade or fulfillment of a course requirement and is not eligible for an MOE Award unless it was also distributed outside of the class via common media channels (i.e. published in a student newspaper, distributed on magazine racks, etc.).
- Advisers may enter for their students but entry fee is based on whether or not the student is a member.
- All entries must have been first published or broadcast in 2024.
- With the exception of the Collaborative Journalism category, entries may not include the work of students from more than one school.
- Each entry may be submitted in only one category. However, photos, graphics and video entered as part of a writing award also may be submitted in a visual category. Visual categories include:
- All Photography categories
- All Videography categories
- Photo Illustration
- Editorial Cartooning
General Rules
- Entries not originally published or broadcast in English should include English subtitles or an English translation.
- Entries that are incomplete or entered in the wrong division or category will be disqualified as soon as the error is discovered. Entrants will not be notified of such disqualification and their entry fees will not be refunded.
- Material submitted for the contest will not be returned. Winning entries may be reproduced or posted on the SPJ website for educational or other purposes.
- A cover letter is needed stating school enrollment (see below). Please include paywall information if needed. The cover letter should also verify (where applicable) that the research, reporting, writing, photography (video and digital), design and layout was/were all student produced. Failure to include this letter could result in a disqualification of the entry.
- Mark the date of publication or broadcast on all items submitted.
- Each contestant may enter as many categories as desired, but may submit no more than two entries per category. There is no limit on the number of entries a school or news outlet may enter.
- Each entry must be accompanied by the correct entry fee.
- Be sure the name of each student who worked on the entry is listed on the entry form and spelled correctly.
- A maximum of four people can be named on a team entry. Otherwise, the entry must be submitted in the name of the newspaper, magazine, station or online news site.
- Work should be submitted in the region where the entrant is enrolled in school. See the SPJ website or entry form for regional boundaries. International SPJ student members should select the “international” option in the regional drop down box. These entries may be assigned to categories based on university affiliation or other criteria. Please note any if known.
- Large and small divisions within a category might be combined during judging, depending on the number of entries. Contest administrators may also reassign an entry to an appropriate category.
School Enrollment
- The Large and Small divisions are classified by total campuswide student enrollment, which includes full-time and part-time, both undergraduate and graduate. It is not based on A) just a journalism school or B) multiple campuses added together.
- Each cover letter MUST include the school’s enrollment and a person to contact to verify that information.
Submitting Your MOE Award Entry
All entries in every category must be uploaded to the online awards site.
Accuracy Requirement
Any corrections, clarifications or retractions made after initial publishing or broadcast must be submitted as part of the entry. Also, copies of any written challenges to the report’s accuracy sent to the entrant or the news organization by or on behalf of those mentioned — including but not limited to letters, emails or legal papers — must be included with the entry. Responses by the news organization also should be included.
Fees
Not an SPJ member? Now's the perfect time to join. Join today and save on your entry fee.
SPJ members
– Early bird: $30 per entry until 11:59 p.m. ET Dec. 31
– Regular rate: $35 per entry
Non-members
– Early bird rate: $40 per entry until 11:59 p.m. ET Dec. 31
– Regular rate: $45 per entry
Each submission by an SPJ member must be accompanied by the appropriate entry fee and the entrant’s membership number. You may not use another student’s membership number to obtain the member entry fee.
- When an entry by more than one person is submitted, the member fee will be acceptable if at least one person on the team is a member of SPJ. The member must be identified and supply his or her membership number. Your adviser’s membership number may not be used for any entry.
- For the Best All-Around categories, the editor must be a member in order to use the lower fee. You must supply the editor’s name and membership number.
- SPJ accepts credit card payments from Visa, MasterCard and American Express.
- Make checks and money orders payable to: Society of Professional Journalists. Entrants paying by check must include the award confirmation number in the memo line. Multiple confirmation numbers should be listed on a note accompanying the check.
- No refunds will be issued.
Judging/Criteria
Judging will be based on overall excellence. Criteria include:
- Accuracy and completeness
- Enterprise and ingenuity
- Adherence to high journalistic standards
- Significance and effectiveness
- Extenuating circumstances
- Clarity, insight and respect for the audience
- Creative use of the medium’s unique capabilities
- Adherence to the SPJ Code of Ethics
- Available resources
One winner and up to two finalists will be chosen in each category unless the judges find that the entries do not meet the overall standard of excellence required. No ties or honorable mentions will be awarded. A winner must be named in a category if there are finalists.
Category-specific Rules
See a list of categories (opens in new window).
Print/Online
- Entrants must submit a link to the online article or a PDF of the newspaper/magazine page on which the story appeared. The date of publication must be visible.
- PDFs must have the same name as the title of the story.
- PDFs should be combined into one file, when possible.
- Word documents containing the work will not be accepted.
- Check each category information for number of submissions per entry.
- Entries should include a cover letter verifying (where applicable) that the research, reporting, writing, photography (video and digital), design and layout was/were all student produced. Failure to include this letter could result in a disqualification of the entry.
- Entrants must keep their entries intact and accessible until September 30, 2025.
- Regional judging will take place February-April 2025. Best Affiliated Website and Best Independent Online Student Publication categories will be judged on content as presented during this time span.
Art/Graphics/Multimedia
- For photographs published in a newspaper or magazine or on an online news site.
- Entrant should submit a PDF of the news/magazine page on which the art appeared in print, or a link to the art published on an online news site. The date of publication should be visible.
- For single-photo categories, include the entire piece but make clear which photo is to be judged. If possible, attach it separately.
- Entries should include a cover letter verifying (where applicable) that the photography (video and digital) was all student produced. Failure to include this letter could result in a disqualification of the entry.
- Video entries must have been broadcast by a campus, public or commercial television station or franchised cable television system.
- Online/digital entries shall come from websites, areas of websites and all digital platforms operated by a campus affiliated organization or program.
- Video entries may be edited for length.
- Entrants should upload the work to an online video site and submit the URL (preferred), or upload a video file to the awards site. [50 MB file limit]
- All video files must be one of the following formats: .wmv, .mov, .mpeg or .mp4.
- A script or transcript may be included with each entry, but it is not required.
Audio
- Entries may be edited for length.
- Work must have been aired by a campus, public or commercial radio station.
- Work available online is also eligible.
- Entrant should submit a link to the work online or upload an audio file to the awards site. [50 MB file limit]
- All audio files must be .mp3 (preferred), .wav or .aiff format. Audio in other formats will not be accepted.
- Podcast entries must be no more than 30 minutes long and may be edited for length.
- Podcast entrants may submit up to two files, not to exceed 15 minutes each.
- Podcast entrant should upload the work to an online audio or video site and submit the URL (preferred) or upload the file(s) to the awards site [50 MB file limit]. Files must be in one of the following formats: .mp3, .wav, .aiff, .wmv, .mov, .mpeg or .mp4.
- Entries should include a cover letter verifying (where applicable) that the research, reporting, writing, photography (video and digital), design and layout was/were all student produced. Failure to include this letter could result in a disqualification of the entry.
Television
- Work must have been broadcast by a campus, public or commercial television station or franchised cable television system.
- Entries may be edited for length.
- Work aired on an internet TV station is also eligible.
- Entrant should upload the work to an online video site and submit the URL (preferred), or upload a video file to the awards site. [50 MB file limit]
- All video files must be one of the following formats: .wmv, .mov, .mpeg or .mp4.
- Do not upload video to Mediafire. Content uploaded to this site is only available for a limited time.
- Entries should include a cover letter verifying (where applicable) that the research, reporting, writing, photography (video and digital), design and layout was/were all student produced. Failure to include this letter could result in a disqualification of the entry.
- Double check to make sure all video material is visible on non-campus networks.
Questions?
Email [email protected].