2009 Dateline Awards Guidelines

GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

More than one entry may be submitted in each category, but each separate entry must be accompanied by its own nomination form and entry fee. Please do not submit the same entry in more than one category. The names of all entrants and the title of the entry should be listed on the entry form. Please include two copies of all print entries.

The fee is $30 per entry, except for a Distinguished Service Award nomination, for which there is no charge. Make checks or money orders payable to Washington, D.C., Pro chapter, SPJ.

For all categories, the Washington metropolitan area is defined as the District of Columbia; Alexandria and Fredericksburg cities and Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Stafford and Prince William counties in Virginia; and Calvert, Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland.

NOMINATIONS & DEADLINES

Nominations may be made by anyone. Nominees need not be SPJ members.

Only work by journalists working in the Washington metropolitan area qualifies. News must be of local interest, except for reporting considered in the Newsletter Washington Reporting and Washington Correspondence categories.

Work published, Webcast or broadcast between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2009, is eligible. For a series, the majority of the work must have appeared in 2009.

All entries shall be in their original form as published or broadcast and must be hand delivered or postmarked no later than March 1, 2010. Feb. 20, 2010. Subsequent corrections or clarifications to the work must be included in the entry or it will be disqualified. Distinguished Service Award entries also must be submitted by Feb. 20.

JUDGING

Materials submitted will be judged by journalists and related professionals whose primary assignments do not include local news. An award in any category may be withheld if the judges so decide. Judges’ decisions are final. Entries become the property of the Washington, D.C., Pro chapter of SPJ.

DATELINE AWARDS PRESENTATIONS

Awards will be announced at the annual Dateline Awards dinner in June. The chapter will provide a press statement following the awards presentation listing all winners. No advance notice of winners will be given, except for the Distinguished Service Award and Robert D.G. Lewis Award.