Advice for Journalism Contests

Journalists prize awards, not just for the bragging rights they convey but also for the lift they can give a career. But are the awards going to the most deserving journalists? Some people who have judged awards contests over the past few years have noticed a decline in the quality of the work submitted.

In recent weeks I was one of six people from my station who judged quite a few news entries in various categories. The state and whether these were for Emmys, AP, Edward R. Murrow or whoever shall remain unspoken here. I have to tell you that the quality of these entries was poor to fair, but mostly poor. Poor as in some of these stories shouldn't have made it to air, let alone have been entered for award consideration

First off, (and this is just a note to everyone to check your tapes), four or five of the entries were garbled because the tape wasn't fully erased or the story played out of one channel and something else completely unrelated played out of the other channel. One of the tapes was blank until a basketball game popped on. The title of what we were supposed to see had nothing to do with basketball.

Here's what was wrong with almost all of the stories:

1. Lack of focus. The reporter couldn't decide what the story was about. I can't tell you how many times a story would start on one topic, change midway through and end as something completely different than what was presented to begin with.

2. Assumed content . These entries featured partial storytelling. It was obvious in many of these stories that the reporter knew a lot more than he/she was willing to share with the viewer. It's important to remember, when editing, that as the viewer I haven't seen your raw video and your notes and the same clips played over and over again as you edit so you have to assume that I know absolutely nothing until you tell me the story. These entries were almost unanimously filled with holes and raised more questions than they answered.

3. No reason to care. You'd better know why I should care about your story. If your purpose for telling it is because the assignment editor told you to, well, I don't care and I'm not going to watch it, let alone give it an award.

4. No people. If your story is about someone, then focus on the someone! We were about to judge a feature story on a person with disabilities who was participating in Special Olympics. I announced to the group that I would probably be biased since I have a child with a disability. I was ready to hand out some high scores. Instead I was completely turned-off by what I saw. Why? With the exception of a few distant shots of the subject of the piece, the story focused more on the B-roll of the equipment used in the sport in which the athlete was competing. There wasn't even a sound bite of this person although it was clear that the Special Olympian was capable of speech. And then, to add insult to injury, the reporter injected herself in the story by demonstrating the sport herself. Suddenly, the subject of the piece was a prop for the reporter. Talk about offensive. Bad story. Bad, bad story.

5. Poor use of sound. Try using sound to your benefit. Several of the entries began with a sound bite. I didn't understand what the person said in any of those instances. You have to establish the story before you introduce sound that is unfamiliar to your viewers' ears, especially when that sound is from someone who may be mumbling or speaking with an accent or whispering or competing with other sound in the background. Sure, the reporter knows what the person said because he/she heard it again and again and was there in the first place. I, on the other hand, didn't have a clue. And, without fail, almost every story I saw had the reporter start speaking just as the nat sound kicked in. So, inevitably I missed the first sentence of every story because you can't introduce two different sources of sound simultaneously.

That's just for starters. There were other things that had me shaking my head. Am I a tough critic? Yes, but the consensus among the group that judged with me was the same. I wonder if people are entering anything and everything thinking that the more they enter the better chance they have of winning something. Or am I naive in thinking that reporters or photographers carefully consider which of their pieces represents their best work and submit that?