Sixteen categories allow students to work on creating photographs, videos, multimedia, illustrations and designs in advance of the February submission deadline. Using a prompt provided below by KSPA, the students create their journalism and then submit it online. Comments from judges are returned to advisers via email after the contest results are final.
Nine additional contests of writing include categories like feature writing, copyediting and cutline writing. Using notes or prompts provided by KSPA in February, students have a couple of days to craft stories, editorials and cutlines that are judged by local professionals. Students receive feedback through rubrics and notes on their writing.
The KSPA board voted to move all State Contest categories to online competition for 2021. The decision was made to ensure student and teacher safety, in addition to the logistical concern that the University of Kansas would not be hosting outside groups like KSPA for events.
Many advisers have requested that KSPA increase the word count for the Writing Categories. So, we have increased the allowable number of word in an entry — in some cases by doubling the allowable number of words.
For all writing categories except Feature Writing, we are now allowing 400 words per entry. For the Feature Writing category, we are now allowing 500 words. We hope this gives students a more authentic writing experience and provides our judges with a solid sample of each student’s writing.
Due to precautions surrounding COVID, we have eliminated the Online Photo Gallery from both the Regional and State contests for 2021. The KSPA board will reconsider this contest for 2022 and advise the KSPA staff about whether to resume the category in coming years.
We added a handful of new categories for the Regional Contests. All of these categories will be State Contests as well. Here is a rundown of the new categories that we added to Regionals and State:
Social Media
Multimedia Storytelling (previously offered only in the State Contest)
Video News
Video PSA
Video Sports Promo
Review Writing (previously offered only in the State Contest)
You can find descriptions for all of these contests below, including the prompts for the Visual Categories
For the 2021 contest, the KSPA staff was unsure about student access to creating photos in academic situations. So, we eliminated “Academics Photography” in favor of “A Winter in the Heartland.” For the state contest, we will continue that seasonal theme with a new prompt: “At One with Nature.” Please see the prompt below for more details.
The contest categories are now divided into two main divisions:
1. THE VISUAL CATEGORIES: These categories include photography, design, video and illustration entries. Previously, most of these categories were called “digital submission” categories. One notable move here is that Editorial Cartooning has moved to this group of categories. Students competing in these contests can begin work on these entries starting March 12.
2. THE WRITING CATEGORIES: These categories include writing and copyediting categories that previously were proctored during the on-site competition. Similar to the 2020 State Contest, these entries will be submitted online. Students will have from 3 p.m. on April 16 until 11 p.m. on April 19 to complete work on these entries.
Each of our contest divisions — Visual and Writing — have their own submission platforms.
THE VISUAL DIVISION will use BNC (Better Newspaper Contests) for contest submission. When that system is open for submission, we will email all participating schools with login details. This is the same contest software that we have used for years at KSPA for Regionals and State digital submissions.
THE WRITING DIVISION will be submitted using an online form linked to each prompt below. This form is powered by Qualtrics and will allow students to submit regardless of the device they are using. They won’t need a sign-in or password either.
The Regional Contest allowed for “Wild Card” entries for the first time this year. All “Wild Card” entries that placed at Regionals have advanced to State. However, for the State Contest, there will be no additional “Wild Card” entries. All entries for the State Contest must have qualified through the Regional Contest.
Contest materials & submission
Contest materials & submission
Contest materials & submission
Contest materials & submission
Contest materials & submission
Contest materials & submission
Contest materials & submission
Contest materials & submission
Contest materials & submission
KSPA will urge judges in all contests and classifications to award 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th place.
However, some judges will decide to award fewer than six places. In the past, some judges have cited these reasons for not awarding all six places:
This circumstance — with fewer than six award winners — is more common in Regional Contests than the State Contest. Advisers should be aware that it is possible and that we will follow up with judges to request they submit six award winners unless one of bullet points above applies to the category they are judging.
Regarding all photography and multimedia contests: when writing captions for the images or completing the multimedia coverage, there is no need to change the name of the school or the people in the photo to make the entry anonymous. Jerseys, t-shirts and signs in the photos often make it obvious to the judge what school is entering the contest. Students: please write the coverage and caption as you would for your publication. Also, students and advisers should know that captions are part of the judging criteria.
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Questions about registration, payment or substitutions?
The University of Kansas and KSPA’s office in Stauffer-Flint Hall are operating with modified and unpredictable hours due to the pandemic. Our staff is working remotely, except for occasional visits to campus. However, please continue mailing any checks to our mailing address below:
And you can reach executive director Eric Thomas and administrative assistant Kerry Navinskey by phone at (785) 864-0605 or via email at staff@kspaonline.org.
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Please refer to the 2021 Regional Contest Results to find students who qualified for the State Contest. Only entries that qualified through Regionals can participate in the State Contest.
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Nine Writing Categories, most of them previously called “on-site” contests, will be offered. Prompts will be published at 3 p.m. on April 16 and remain available for submission until 11 p.m. Monday, April 19. Submission of entries will occur through an online form that will open Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. This form is different from the BNC submission website used for Visual categories.
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Sixteen Visual Categories, previously called “digital submission” contests, will be offered. The prompts for all Visual Categories were published March 12. All entries are due — through submission to the BNC contest system — by 11 p.m. Feb. 21.
Entries to Visual Categories are submitted using BetterBNC Media Awards Platform. The system will allow for secure submissions, quick judging and high-quality feedback. This document provides in-depth instructions, including video tutorials.
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During a normal State Contest, judges use paper copies of rubrics to provide feedback to students about Writing categories. That will not be possible this year. However, you can reference the rubrics to see the qualities that judges usually seek. Here are rubrics and some comments that judges often make. (Please note that some rubrics are still being developed for newly added categories.)
For the Visual categories, you can reference our pre-written judging comments. These comments are used by judges to provide feedback to students on their entries through the BNC submission website. You can use the tabs at the bottom of the document to choose the Visual category that you would like to learn about.
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A particular student may only participate in five total categories, whether individually or as a team.
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The fee for each entry is $12.
KSPA understands that statewide school closures mean that finances and contest payments will be unpredictable. During these extraordinary times, KSPA is dedicated to encouraging journalists through contests. Schools will receive their feedback even if payment is pending. However, awards will be withheld until payment is received.
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Want a preview of what the Writing Category prompts will be like? Want a classroom activity for your students? Need an emergency lesson plan?
KSPA has a page of prompts from previous state and regional contests for you. We will continue to add to the collection as we search through our archives. ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: please notice that some of the rules and formats for the contests have changed (most notably for the Copyediting On-Site Contest). Be sure to read all directions for this year’s contest for guidance.
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Check out our “Simply Better” pages, a showcase of the award-winning entries from previous Regional and State competitions. These examples can be used as classroom examples for students who will compete in State.
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The KSPA staff and board look forward to gathering together like “normal” in upcoming years. And we commend the students and advisers participating in the contest for their energy and strength during the pandemic.
Sincerely,
