The late Jack Webster is one of BC’s best-known journalists. From 1947 to 1987, first in print, then in open-line radio and TV, he engaged a generation of British Columbians with his hard-hitting style of journalism.
Jack Webster Awards Call for Submissions
Thank you for your submissions. The 2009 finalists will be announced the week of September 8th, 2009.
Plan now for the 2010 Websters. Save your best work published or aired June 1, 2009 to May 31, 2010. Entry forms will be available in May, 2010. Deadline for submissions will be June 30, 2010.
Clarification – You may enter a single story in only one category. You may enter other stories in the same category or other categories.
New for 2009 - Jack Webster Award for Excellence in Online Journalism
This new award recognizes outstanding BC-based journalism that takes best advantage of the unique multimedia, connective and interactive abilities of online media to tell a story of interest to British Columbians.
- Jack Webster Awards Submission forms
Call for Submission and Submission Form (pdf, 144k)
ON THIS PAGE
Eligibility
Jack Webster Awards Categories and Descriptions
Judging Guidelines
Steps to Enter
Frequently Asked Questions
ELIGIBILITY
BC-based journalists reporting for news organizations on stories of special interest to BC audiences are eligible to enter the 2009 Jack Webster Awards.
Eligible journalists may submit published or broadcast submissions which have been published or aired between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009.
A journalist or news organization may not enter the same work in more than one category.
| Best News Reporting | Print: Acknowledge outstanding hard news reporting by a journalist or a team of journalists. Television: Acknowledge outstanding hard news reporting by a journalist or a team of journalists. Presented in memory of Keith Bradbury more Radio: Acknowledge outstanding hard news reporting by a journalist or a team of journalists. |
| Best Feature | Print: For publications with 50,000 and over circulation: acknowledge exemplary skill by a journalist or a team of journalists in presenting non-news stories. Television: Acknowledge exemplary skill by a journalist or a team of journalists in presenting non-news stories. Radio: Acknowledge exemplary skill by a journalist or a team of journalists in presenting non-news stories. |
| Jack Webster Award for Community Reporting | For broadcast journalists from small market broadcast organizations and print journalists from publications with less than 50,000 circulation whose work demonstrates extraordinary enterprise, talent or courage in bringing vital information to their community. |
 Commentator of the Year |
If you do regular commentary in print or broadcast media, enter this category to be judged BC's Commentator of the Year. Receive the City Mike Award named after Jack Webster's groundbreaking CJOR radio program which established Webster as one of BC's pre-eminent commentators. Presented in memory of Linda Webster more |
| Jack Webster Award for Business, Industry and Economics | Recognizes a journalist or a team of journalists for outstanding and lucid reporting about these complex issues that affect our daily lives. Sponsored by Jean Cormier more |
| Jack Webster Award for Science, Technology, Health and Environment | Recognizes a journalist or a team of journalists for best reporting on the impact of science discovery, technological innovation and health and environmental issues. |
| Best Reporting Chinese Language | Recognizes a journalist or a team of journalists who produces outstanding journalism in BC Chinese Language media. |
| Jack Webster Award for Excellence in Legal Journalism | Honours a journalist or a team of journalists for a story about legal issues, the administration of justice or the legal profession in British Columbia. Sponsored by the Law Society of British Columbia more |
| Jack Webster Award for Excellence in Online Journalism | This new award recognizes outstanding BC-based journalism that takes best advantage of the unique multimedia, connective and interactive abilities of online media to tell a story of interest to British Columbians. |
| Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award | This award is chosen by the Trustees of the Foundation and recognizes an individual for a lifetime of contribution to the field of journalism in British Columbia. |
JUDGING GUIDELINES
The Jury Panel, composed of current and former journalists, as well as members of the community, is completely independent from the Trustees of the Foundation. The jury panel will base their decisions on the following Guidelines:
Guidelines for hard news submissions:
- Balance: Was the entry fair to all those in it?
Clarity: Was the complex made understandable?
Conflict: Were the elements of conflict clearly explained in neutral terms?
Enterprise: What degrees of research, resourcefulness and persistence were exhibited in this story?
Impact and Relevance: What was the impact on or relevance to the community? What degree of change flowed from the telling of this story?
Originality: Did the entry break substantively new ground?
Timeliness: Was this story relevant today?
Guidelines for feature submissions:
- Choice: What creativity did the journalist show is selecting a story to tell?
Context: What did the story tell us about how we live now?
Craft: How did the journalist exploit the unique narrative demand of the medium to tell the story.
Enterprise: What degrees of research, resourcefulness and persistence were exhibited in this story?
Originality: Has the ordinary been made new, or the extraordinary understandable?
Style: How creatively did the journalist use narrative technique to enhance our understanding?
Guidelines for the Online Journalism Award:
- Choice: Why was this story chosen to tell in online media? What makes the story submission uniquely suited to online journalism?
Craft: What creative use of multimedia, online tools, design and navigation, singly or in combination, was used to enhance the audience’s understanding of the story? How did the story make best use of the characteristics of online journalism to tell the story?
Enterprise: How did innovation, timeliness and resourcefulness contribute to telling the story?
Originality: How did the storytelling exceed what might have been produced in the traditional print and broadcast media? To what extent is it innovative in the use of digital media?
Impact: What measurements were done to gauge the audience's interactivity with the story. How were readers able to contribute to or engage with this story? What was learned about the audience's engagement with this story from comments, email tools, and other quantitative and qualitative measures?
Guidelines for the City Mike Award:
Judges will base their decision on the significance of the topics, the effectiveness of the commentary on the issue and the quality of the work including clarity, originality, depth of thought and style.
STEPS TO ENTER
- For all entries, complete the appropriate submission form.
- For the online journalism award, please complete the online submission form.
- For all other awards, please complete The Jack Webster Awards Submission Form in duplicate. The eform can be completed online and printed or you can download and complete the submission form which has also been emailed/mailed to newsrooms in the province.
- For submissions to all awards except the online journalism award
- two copies of a completed submission form
- two copies of a brief synopsis (about 200 words) of the submission explaining the background, significance, impact and any other information you consider pertinent.
- for print entries
- provide two tearsheets or quality reproductions of the original article(s) indicating the publication and date in which it appeared. Printed copies from an electronic library are acceptable. However, such copies must show the publication name and the date(s) in which it appeared.
- for radio entries
- provide CDs of the story and, if available, two scripts. Please note running time.
- submissions should be the original aired work.
- provide CDs of the story and, if available, two scripts. Please note running time.
- for television entries
- provide two DVDs and, if available two scripts. Please note running time.
- submissions should be the original aired work.
- provide two DVDs and, if available two scripts. Please note running time.
- for Commentary entries
- provide up to five examples of work either on a single topic or on several topics.
- SEND YOUR COMPLETED SUBMISSION TO:
The Jack Webster Foundation
6209 Angus Drive
Vancouver, BC
V6M 3P2
- For submissions to the online journalism award
- Complete the online submission form.
- Attach a brief synopsis (about 200 words) of the submission to you online entry explaining the background, significance, impact and any other information you consider pertinent. You may wish to consult the judging guidelines.
- Please note:
- The web site submitted for judging must have been produced between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009. The web site must be available to public view online until December 31, 2009. The dates and nature of significant updates following the initial posting for which the submission is made must be noted in the entry form. Where material on the online story was not created by the person or organization making the submission, appropriate credit must be given. The submission application may be made online and applicants will provide the URL for the submitted story.
- Please note
- You may enter more than one submission.
- A submission may be entered in only one category.
- There is no submission fee.
- Finalists are announced in September and are invited as special guests to the Jack Webster Dinner in October.
- Winners will be announced at the Jack Webster Dinner on October 20, 2009.
- Submissions may be used as part of the presentations at the Jack Webster Dinner in October.
- Submissions will not be returned.
Finalists will be announced in September and winners announced at the Annual Awards Dinner where each winnning submission will receive one Webster statue.
For more information, please contact The Jack Webster Foundation.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. For print publications, may I enter printed copies from an electronic library?
A. Yes, please ensure these copies indicate the dates of publication and the name of the publication.
Q. If I reported on a story in May, 2008 and it continued with more reports in June, 2009, may I enter all the stories, given that the entry period is June 1, 2008 to May 31, 2009?
A. Yes, if your story begin in May and continues into June, then it should be entered for the 2009 Webster Awards.
Q. I am a broadcast journalist and wish to enter. Is there a time limit for broadcast entries or should I edit the original piece?
A. No, there is no time limit for broadcast entries. A broadcast entry should be of the original aired piece, not one that has been edited.
Q. Is there a fee for entering?
A. No, there is no fee for entering.
Q. May I enter a series of articles on a subject as one entry?
A. Yes.
Q. If my news organization has more than one media, can a submission be entered in more than one category, for example, in a TV and in a radio category?
A. No. A submission may be entered in only one category.
Q. I noticed the Webster awards has a category for "online journalism" this year. I am trying to decide whether to enter my story in the regular print category or the new online category. I'm unclear whether the category is for online-only work or whether newspaper series that have a significant online component (ie. a searchable database or interactive map) are eligible.
A. The new online award category accepts work from both online-only and traditional media organizations that meet the criteria for the award which is found above. Please note that the same story can be entered into one category only. Therefore, if you have a story to submit and it was printed in the newspaper and also appeared and perhaps enhanced on the web utilizing various online tools, that you will have to choose which category in which to enter – online or print.
Q. Is there a maximum number of stories I can enter in a category?
A. No, there is no maximum number of stories you can enter in a category. However, remember that the jury is looking for your ‘best’ work published or aired between June 1, 2008 and May 31, 2009, not every story.
