The 2008 AltWeekly Awards is now accepting entries. The contest website opened Mon., Dec. 3, 2007 and will close on the contest deadline, Fri., Jan. 25, 2008 at midnight (EST).
Following record numbers of entries and participating members, AAN welcomes Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism as our administrative partner. The AAN Editorial Committee will continue to oversee the rules of the contest while Medill will handle day-to-day activity. The collaboration is the latest in a series of AAN/Medill ventures, which include the Academy for Alternative Journalism and the annual Writers and Designers Workshop.
In addition to the new partnership, the AAN Editorial Committee has made several changes to the contest. For the first time, all entries in the Writing categories must be submitted as URLs or PDFs. The contest will only accept hard copies of materials in the Cartoon, Special Section or Design categories. Hard copies of entries require an entry form printed from the contest website.
The committee added two new categories, Innovation and Public Service, and eliminated four others, Ad Design, Format Buster, Website Content Feature and Wild Card. In the Cartoon category, all entrants will compete in one division. For details on category requirements, download the complete contest rules here.
Eligibility
The contest is open to member papers of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies and to cartoonists whose work appears in those papers. All entries must have been published in the period from Jan. 1, 2007, through Dec. 31, 2007 with the exception of entries in the Website and Public Service categories (see rules for details). Each entry must have been published originally in the member paper or its website. It should not be a reprint.
Entries must be submitted by the editor, publisher or another designated representative of the member paper. Individual cartoonists may enter their own work, but may need a letter from an AAN paper in which their work appears
Entry Fees
The competition in each category is separated into two divisions based on circulation figures. This year the circulation cut-off has decreased from 60,000 to 55,000. For larger papers (circulation of 55,000 and over), the fee is $35 per entry, and for smaller papers (circulation under 55,000), the entry fee is $25 per entry. The entry fee for cartoons remains unchanged at $25.
Entry Forms
All entrants must register at AAN’s contest website. Each member paper or cartoonist will be assigned a single username and password. Returning entrants must initially log on with last year’s username and password to update their information.
Judging and Awards Presentation
All entries will be judged by independent judges who are accomplished in the field they are evaluating and are not currently employed by any AAN paper. The order of finish will be announced at a special awards luncheon held at the 31st annual AAN Convention in Philadelphia, Penn. The conference takes place June 5-7, 2008.
For more info
A careful reading of the rules should resolve most questions about how to prepare entries. Further questions can be addressed to the contest administrator Charles Whitaker at contests (at) aan.org or 847-491-3014.
