The 3rd UST National Campus Journalism Awards (UNCJA) honor
outstanding works in journalism in three categories at the university level,
namely, (1) Best In-depth News (2) Best Feature, and (3) Best Editorial.
The UNCJA is supported by a grant from retired
Washington-based labor lawyer Julio Macaranas Jr., a former two-time editor in
chief of The Varsitarian, the 89-year-old campus paper of the University of
Santo Tomas. Macaranas established the awards in honor of his late mother,
Mercedes, who taught him how to write.
The awards will be given out during “Inkblots,”
the annual campus journalism fellowship established by the Varsitarian in 1999.
Now on its 19th year, Inkblots has promoted a healthy gathering of campus
journalists, school paper advisers, journalism and communication students, and
anyone interested in journalism. It’s where they learn the basics of
journalism, new techniques and approaches in the evolving media landscape, and
tackle issues confronting journalists. It’s only fitting to fete outstanding
outputs by campus journalists.
The contest is open to all college-level student
publications, print or online. It covers articles in the three categories
published or posted online within a year prior to the deadline. A publication
can submit up to three entries for each category. In case of online articles, a
screen grab photo of the published article must be attached to the submitted e-mail.
(1) Best In-depth News
A comprehensive report on any issue of utmost importance to
students, who are the primary readers of a participating publication. It can
also cover stories about the community or issues national in scope or character
but discuss how they concretely affect the lives of their own readers.
Entries can be a single article in long form or a collection
of news stories, including sidebars and infographics, pertaining to a single
coverage. Only such articles published within a month will be entertained.
The Best In-depth News should be compelling, comprehensive,
accurate, and most especially, truthful. It must be fair and balanced. Just as
important is the narrative, how facts are gathered, analyzed and presented.
The topic may not necessarily be grand in scale, but the
article must probe deeply. It can expose untruths, abuses, indiscretions, and
shenanigans by those in power. It can help explain and clarify issues,
educating readers and helping them make informed decisions.
Entries must include a note of no more than 500 words on how
the story was developed, challenges encountered especially with sources,
limitations, and other relevant information that will give the panel of judges
a better understanding of the story’s context.
(2) Best Feature
The Best Feature Story fetes outstanding profiles about a
person, group or institution within a participating publication’s school or
community. It can also be about a very interesting event, either light or heavy
in character. It’s a story that needs to be told, brought to life by a feature
writer’s keen eye for details, facility of the language, and superior
narrative.
(3) Best Editorial
The Best Editorial is thought-provoking and well-argued,
clearly explaining a participating publication’s stand on an issue. It reflects
the depth of a paper’s knowledge and understanding of a topic and how this
affects its readers.
Entries will be evaluated by a three-person panel composed of
professional journalists. They can pick only one winner for each category. They
can also opt not to choose one if entries fail to meet their standards.
A publication may submit entries for all three categories.
Except for the The Varsitarian, all other student publications based in UST may
participate.
The winning publication will receive P10,000 cash, trophy,
and medal.
Entries should be scanned copies of the articles in PDF
format and e-mailed to ustncja@gmail.com. Deadline is Oct. 23, 2015 at 5 p.m.
For more inquiries, you may contact Lea Vicencio (0977 837 8833) or Nona Tadeo (0915 363 9567) or the Varsitarian office at 406-1611 local 8235.
