Excellence in Journalism Award Criteria

Entrants must indicate which of these two categories they represent. There is a $50 application fee for large media and a $25 application fee for small media. Please note the emphasis of this award is on organizational excellence, not output.

1. LARGE OR NATIONAL MEDIA
Entrants in this category include:
a. Newspaper - paid daily circulation more than 100,000
b. Magazines - paid circulation more than 150,000
c. National Broadcast
d. Online Journalism - more than 500,000 unique visitors per month. Must have original content and a distinctive editorial voice.

2. SMALL OR LOCAL MEDIA
Entrants in this category include:
a. Newspaper – paid daily/weekly circulation less than 100,000
b. Magazines - paid circulation less than 150,000
c. Local or Regional Broadcast
d. Online Journalism - less than 500,000 unique visitors per month. Must have original content and a distinctive editorial voice.

The submission should answer the following questions. Each response may be a maximum of 125 words. Consideration is given to responses in ALL categories:

1. ORIGINALITY / COURAGE / INDEPENDENCE – 50%

• How does your organization foster creativity, innovation and risk-taking?
• How has your organization shown courage and independence in the past year?
• Describe how your organization regularly commits extra resources over a long period of time to the pursuit of a story?
• Describe how your organization breaks away from the pack to explore important territory that others had missed, perhaps using non-traditional methods?
   

2. ACCURACY / SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY / ACCOUNTABILITY – 30%

• What mechanisms and policies does your organization have in place to ensure accuracy and fairness?
• How does your organization acknowledge errors?
• How does your organization balance the right to privacy and the right to know?
   

3. DIVERSITY – 10%

• What efforts does your organization make to ensure that a diversity of voices, faces and ideas in your coverage accurately reflects Canadian life?

4. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT / OPPORTUNITIES – 10%

• What measures does your organization take to make your newsroom a challenging, exciting and rewarding place for journalists in order to inspire excellence in journalism?

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