2006 News: SABEW Best in Business Takes Another Step into Digital Age

The Society of American Business Editors and Writers is building on last year's success with online registration for its Best in Business contest by taking the entire entry process online for many categories in our 13th annual competition.

The Best in Business entry forms will be available on this site beginning Jan. 2, 2007.

Editors will enter the SECTION contest as they did last year: Register the entry online, then mail in four copies of each section. Entries for the NEWS contest - breaking news, enterprise, columns and student categories, among others - will be registered entirely online. Entrants must attach a pdf (or several pdfs in a zip file) while registering their entry.

Entries for the NEWS contest must be completed online by Feb. 1. Entries for the SECTION contest must be registered online by Feb. 1, and four sets of the entry packet must also be postmarked to SABEW by Feb. 1.

The contest will consider only work published in the 2006 calendar year.

Follow the instructions and use the handy drop-down menus to choose the appropriate contest category, join SABEW for 2007, and pay for everything by credit card.

The Best in Business contest has two main components - the SECTION competition to select outstanding daily newspaper business sections and weekly business newspapers, and the NEWS contest to select the best individual stories or packages of stories published by the business news media. Additionally, SABEW is once again inviting students interested in business journalism to enter the student contest.

The SECTION competition for daily newspapers is divided into four categories based on average daily circulation, plus a fifth category for all weekly newspapers:

SMALL: up to 125,000

MEDIUM: 125,001 to 250,000

LARGE: 250,001 to 375,000

GIANT: 375,001 and above

WEEKLY: all in one category

Editors entering the SECTION contest should read the rules carefully as copies of the newspaper must be submitted for three mandatory dates in order to provide our judges with a representative sample of the newspaper.

The three mandatory dates are: Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006; Sunday, Aug. 20, 2006; and Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006.

Weekly newspapers must submit the editions published during the following weeks:

Sunday, Feb. 12 to Saturday Feb. 18, 2006

Sunday, Aug. 20 to Saturday, Aug. 26, 2006

Sunday, Nov. 26 to Saturday Dec. 2, 2006

The NEWS competition is divided into five main categories:

Breaking News: A package of up to seven stories planned, reported and written in a single day under deadline pressure. The judges will give greater weight to the quality of the main story of the package. The best sidebars, graphics and pictures cannot compensate for a main story that is weak. The judges also will give greater weight to coverage of UNANTICIPATED events than to coverage of
events that are expected. This is because it is much more difficult to do quality work on the fly than with stories in the hopper ready to go at a moment's notice.

Enterprise: A single story that demonstrates exceptional enterprise. It can be a scoop, an interview that sheds unique light on a newsmaker or an issue, an analysis that shows enterprise reporting and/or original thought. An enterprise
entry should be planned, original and deeply reported. This category is NOT for an investigative series (see Projects).

Projects: A series of up to five stories, or a story of up to five parts, that is investigative in nature or extensively researched. The stories should be reported over time. The stories should raise fresh issues, provide insight and/or share clear explanations. Judges will take into account the impact or reaction to the stories, and editors may explain the impact/reaction in a one- page cover letter.

Columns: All types of columns on business subjects are eligible. Entries will be judged based on the size of the daily newspapers where they originally appear (see circulation sizes above for Giant, Large, Medium, Small). All weekly newspaper columns will be judged together, and all columns appearing on real time media such as wire services, or online, will be judged together.
There will be a separate sub-category for syndicated or freelance columns. Four columns are required per entry: Three of them are writer's choice. The mandatory date is Wednesday, Feb. 8 (or, if the entrant did not publish a column on Feb. 8, the first column published AFTER Feb. 8).

Student contest: Each student can enter one published article with a strong business, economic or financial angle. SABEW judges will choose one winner who will receive $250 plus a scholarship to attend the 2007 SABEW annual conference, May 20-22 in Orange County, Calif. Second-place winners, if chosen, will receive certificates.

See www.sabew.org <http://www.sabew.org/> for complete contest rules, instructions on how to register online or prepare an entry for mailing, information on contest fees and a list of frequently asked questions

CONTACTS: BIB Contest Committee Co-Chair Jill Jorden Spitz at 520-573-4177 or e- mail jspitz@azstarnet.com; Co-Chair Cathie Anderson at 915-321-1957 or e-mail canderson@sacbee.com; SABEW Executive Director Carrie Paden at 573-882-7862 or
e-mail padenc@missouri.edu.