Journalism Excellence Awards FAQ

GENERAL

How does AAJA’s Code of Conduct apply to awards?

As an AAJA-sponsored program, all AAJA Awards applicants, surrogates, supporters, judges, and other members of the awards community are required to understand and comply with AAJA’s Code of Conduct.

AAJA will not tolerate ANY harassment, coercion, intimidation, bullying, threats, bribery, or other pressure campaigns directed at awards volunteers, judges, board members, or staff at any point in the awards process, including but not limited to attempting to influence the outcome of an award decision.

Any such behavior must be reported as soon as possible to awards leadership, HQ, and/or the governing board. Violators may be suspended from applying or rendered permanently ineligible for future awards consideration.

Disputes must be submitted in writing to awards@aaja.org. AAJA Awards leadership, board members, and staff will review and determine the most appropriate course of action on a case-by-case basis.

Why is there no longer a general AAPI award category? Will work that highlights AAPI stories be prioritized?

Beginning with the 2021-2022 awards revamp, we decided to eliminate the previous bifurcation of “General” and “AAPI Issue” categories because amplifying excellent storytelling, impactful work and accurate reporting that empowers narratives of the AAPI community is at the core of all AAJA awards. We value exemplary reporting on the AAPI community.

ELIGIBILITY

What are student eligibility requirements?

All student work must be published in 2023 to be eligible, whether in a school newspaper, online portfolio or other publication. Works must have been produced by a student (high school, undergraduate or graduate). If the entrant produced the work as a student and is no longer a student at the time of award submission, they still qualify for submitting their work in the student category.

If my employer is a Media Member, are my works eligible for the awards? Or is the work only eligible if one or more members of the team of contributors is an individual member?

Yes, you are eligible if your employer is a Media Member. Please provide the name of your employer’s awards coordinator, as each Media Member may submit up to 15 entries. For any questions regarding your employer’s Media Membership status, contact support@aaja.org.

Can an AAJA member submit work in which they are not the primary (or bylined) contributor to the work?

Yes, we will accept applications from AAJA members who contributed to the work significantly but are not bylined. This could include editors, visual journalists or project managers. However, please note that the AAJA member's involvement in the piece should be significant and they need to detail that in the application. They must also list themselves as the primary contact to the entry for logistical purposes.

Can freelancers submit their work?

Freelance journalists are welcome to submit their work. Freelancers may submit their own work even if the newsroom that publishes it does not submit it.

What happens if my entry is found in violation of AAJA Awards rules?

Ineligible entries, such as redundant submissions, incomplete applications, and those with incorrect/malfunctioning links, will be disqualified. Entrants will not be notified.

Are judges eligible to submit their work for consideration?

Yes, but only to categories they do not volunteer for or are assigned to evaluate. Judges are not permitted to evaluate their own work in current competition.

We highly encourage past winners to serve as judges!=

SUBMISSIONS

Do you have to be an AAJA member in order to apply?

The Primary Contact submitting the work to be reviewed for awards consideration must be an active AAJA member. If the work was produced by a team, not all members need to be AAJA members. For example, for submissions from a newsroom, please use the name of the AAJA member who contributed to the work as the Primary Submitter.

Is there an entry fee? 

There is no entry fee this year, but you must be a current AAJA member to submit an application. Please join here.

What is the deadline?

All completed entry forms and accompanying materials must be received online by 11:59 p.m. PT on Monday, January 22, 2024.

How should I gauge if I should enter my work in the Journalism Excellence by Medium or by Subject categories? 

Please use your best judgment to determine if you would like your work evaluated for being best in its format or best in its topic.

Can I submit multiple entries to multiple categories?

Yes, as long as the same work is not submitted to more than one AAJA Awards category.

For example, a short-form video entered into the short-form video category is OK. However, it becomes ineligible if that same work is also included in an hour-long special submitted to the long-form video category.

Entrants are responsible for ensuring their work is not being submitted to multiple categories.

Can I submit multiple entries to the same category?

It depends on whether you are entering as an individual member or Media Member.

Individual members (Student through Retired) cannot submit multiple entries to the same category due to the volume of submissions we receive. Please use your best judgment to pick your best work.

Media Members (Media, Non-Profit, or AAPI Community categories) can submit multiple entries to the same category as long as the talent and contributors involved are different.

Can the same piece be submitted to more than one category?

No, due to the volume of submissions we receive. Please use your best judgment to select the single most appropriate category.

Entrants are responsible for ensuring their work is not being submitted to multiple categories.

What if my work is behind a paywall?

If your work is published on a site with a paywall, please provide a login account or PDF (unless the work is being judged for the digital presentation and/or interactive experience) to assure that judges can access your work. (You may ask the publication for assistance, as they sometimes provide a generic account for awards submissions.)

Why do audio and video submissions require transcripts?

To promote accessibility and inclusion in judging as well as align with evolving industry standards.

To fulfill the transcript requirement, we will accept either prepared transcripts, a copy of the final version of the script, or, for video submissions, closed captions/subtitles on the entire video.

If you need transcript support, there are many free or free trial options available, such as Otter.ai or Trint. Entrants are responsible for covering their own related costs.

What are the time limitations for social video entries?

For social video entries in the “Online/Digital Journalism – Engagement” category, “Student Excellence in Online/Digital Journalism” category, “Excellence in Video Storytelling, Short-form or Social” category or “Student Excellence in Video Storytelling, Long-form, Short-form or Social” category, submissions from a series must not exceed 10 minutes total, though the total number of videos submitted can exceed three entries.

How should a team be credited in the application?

Entrants are responsible for providing all names that should be credited.

Winning entries that have only the outlet’s awards coordinator listed as the submitter will be credited as “Staff of [outlet]” on all announced winner materials, including the awards website and trophy.

Does the Impact section need to be an essay?

No, 500 words is a maximum, but if you can express impact in a few sentences, that suffices.

How many photos are allowed in photo stories?

Photo Story categories allow up to 12 photos to be submitted.

Do photos need to be published?

Yes, photography entries must be published, either with a news outlet or another public-facing platform including social media.

What’s the maximum run time for video and audio segments? How many minutes should be submitted? 

Run time varies depending on whether you are applying for short-form or long-form categories. Short-form segments must be shorter than 10 minutes. Long-form segments must be longer than 10 minutes.

For the student categories in video and audio that are open to both short and long-form, segments must be shorter than 30 minutes. Please check the form carefully for each individual video and audio storytelling award for run-time requirements.

Can I use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in my submission?

All submitted work must be created by a human or team of humans. The use of AI in creating the work is strictly prohibited, unless it's relevant to the story and explicitly labeled as AI-generated.

What happens to the entry once I’ve submitted it? 

All submitted work and accompanying materials, if any, are not returnable. All work submitted becomes property of AAJA and may be (a) deleted after winners are selected, (b) used for promotional outreach materials for the organization, including publications and the website, or (c) stored in AAJA’s archives for future use. Occasionally, AAJA is asked by media organizations to share member’s photos or work. At our discretion, AAJA will agree to this unless otherwise requested by the entrant in writing.

JUDGING

Who serves as judges?

Any AAJA member in good standing can volunteer to judge the Journalism Excellence Awards as a screener and/or a final-round judge. In some cases, volunteers outside AAJA may be invited to participate for their expertise and input (ex. IAJA involvement with the Excellence in Pacific Islander Reporting Award). All judges must agree to AAJA’s Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest policies. AAJA will release judges’ names after the final vote and winners have been publicly announced.

What is the judging process?

Journalism Excellence Awards judging assignments are determined by area of interest, experience, availability, and need. For categories with more than 10 submissions, screeners evaluate and select the top 10 projects to move forward. For the final round of judging, a panel of three judges reviews those 10 entries and votes on a winner (and optional runner-up).

How do you judge entries that come out of newsrooms of varying sizes?

Awards are evaluated relative to resources at the market level.

RECIPIENTS

Where can I see examples of previous award winners?

You can view past awardees on the AAJA Awards website.

Do winners receive any additional discounts or covered costs, such as convention registration, airfare or hotel accommodations?

No. Winners are responsible for their own registration, travel, lodging, and all other convention-related expenses. Award winners will be celebrated at the gala.

Winners will be notified ahead of the early registration rate deadline to take advantage of the lower rate. Award winners will receive a trophy (one per category). If the winner cannot accept their award in-person at the convention, AAJA will cover the cost of shipping the trophy to the recipient.

Do runner-ups receive a trophy or other benefit?

While runners up receive the recognition and admiration from the judges and AAJA community, they will not receive trophies. Runners up will also be notified ahead of convention for an opportunity to attend.

How and when will winners be announced?

In May, winners will be notified through the Primary Contact listed in the application and announced publicly on the AAJA Awards website.

Preparations are underway for an awards ceremony at the convention. Stay tuned for updates.

What is the process to file an awards dispute?

Awards disputes must be submitted in writing to awards@aaja.org. AAJA Awards leadership, board members, and staff will review and determine the most appropriate course of action on a case-by-case basis.

Can AAJA later revoke an award?

Yes. AAJA reserves the right to revoke any award upon learning of journalistic misconduct, Code of Conduct violations, AAJA Awards policy violations, or other wrongdoing.