The 2015 Missouri Press Foundation Better Newspaper Contest is officially underway. The BNC template is NOW OPEN for entries. The entry deadline is 11 p.m. March 31. The contest template will close automatically at that time.
All of the information about the contest — rules, categories, entry instructions — are at https://mopress.com/contests.php.
Entries to the Missouri Press Foundation’s Newspaper Contest will be submitted using BetterBNC Online Journalism Awards Platform: https://betternewspapercontest.com/login
IMPORTANT: BetterBNC is optimized for Google Chrome. If you do not have Google Chrome, download it at http://www.google.com/chrome
DEADLINE: There is no need to wait until the deadline to upload your entries! The contest template will close 11 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, and will not accept entries after that — no exceptions. You may begin uploading your entries now.
ALERT: For larger files such as Special Sections, you may upload your file(s) to Realview. You cannot upload these large entries directly to the contest template because it has space limitations. Large files need to be uploaded to Realview. Realview can be accessed directly from betterbnc.com. Look for the Realview icon and that link will take you directly to their site.
THREE TIPS TO MAKE UPLOADING EASY:
1. If you have entries that consist of more than one piece of content, combine them into one file. This will make uploading and judging much easier. This will apply to Best Columnist, Best Front Page, etc., where an entry is more than one piece. Combine them into one file. Do the same for stories that jump to another page. Combine the pages into one file for uploading.
2. Make the category number the first element in the title of each entry.
3. Put all of your entries into a "Contest Entries" folder on your desktop.
Please read the instructions and category listings carefully.
CHANGES TO THE 2015 BNC INCLUDE:
1) ADDED categories — "Best Military Story" and "Best Sports Feature Photograph"
2) ELIMINATED category — "Best Coverage of Community/People/Life"
3) ADJUSTED: "Best Local Business Coverage" category adjusted to only ONE circulation class for weeklies (Dailies were already just one class)
4) CHANGED: "Best Front-to-Back Newspaper Design" changed to "Best Overall Design"
5) LIMITED: Honorable mention designations have been limited to ONE
6) REINSTATED: Gold Cups will be reinstated. Six will be awarded (to 3 weeklies and 3 dailies), taking the place of the Gold Medal plaques.
We are looking forward to a successful 2015 Better Newspaper Contest.
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