Jack Webster Awards Call for Submissions

Deadline for 2008 Jack Webster Awards is June 30, 2008

Jack Webster Awards Submission forms
E-form



Brochure and Submission Form (pdf, 228k)

Jack Webster Awards categories

Judging Guidelines

Eligibility

Steps to Enter

Frequently Asked Questions

Jack Webster Awards Categories

Best News Reporting   Three Awards: Print, Radio and Television
Best Feature   Three Awards: Print (circulation more than 50,000), Radio and Television
Jack Webster Award for Community Reporting   One award: Print (circulation less than 50,000), small market Radio or Television
City Mike Award   Commentator of the Year
Jack Webster Award for Business, Industry and Economics
Jack Webster Award for Science and Technology
Best Reporting Chinese Language
Jack Webster Award for Excellence in Legal Journalism
Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award

Award Categories description

Best News Reporting
Three awards - one each for Print, Radio and Television - acknowledge outstanding hard news reporting by a journalist or a team of journalists in each of these media. The Best News Reporting for Television is presented in memory of Keith Bradbury.

Best Feature
Three awards - one each for Radio,Television and 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.

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.

City Mike Award (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.

Jack Webster Award for Business, Industry and Economics
Sponsored by Jean Cormier
Recognizes a journalist or a team of journalists for outstanding and lucid reporting about these complex issues that affect our daily lives.

Jack Webster Award for Science and Technology
Recognizes a journalist or a team of journalists for best reporting on the impact of science discovery or technological innovation.

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
Sponsored by the Law Society of British Columbia
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.

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:

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?

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 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.

Eligibility

BC-based journalists reporting for news organizations on stories of special interest to BC audiences are eligible to enter the 2008 Jack Webster Awards.

Eligible journalists may submit print or broadcast submissions which have been published or aired between June 1, 2007 and May 31, 2008.

A journalist or news organization may not enter the same work in more than one category.

Steps to Enter

1. Complete The Jack Webster Awards' Submission Form in duplicate.

   The form can be downloaded from the link above or can be mailed or faxed to you by contacting The Jack Webster Foundation. Also, forms have been mailed to all newsrooms in the province.

2. Send the following with the submission forms:
   • two copies of a brief synopsis (about 200 words) of the submission explaining the bacground, 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.

   • for radio entries
     • provide CDs of the story and, if available, two scripts. Please note running time.
     • submissions should be the original aired work.

   • for TV entries
     • provide two DVDs and, if available two scripts. Please note running time.
     • submissions should be the original aired work.

   • for Commentary entries
     • provide up to five examples of work either on a single topic or on several topics.

   • 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 in October.
     • Submissions may be used as part of the presentations at the Jack Webster Dinner in October.
     • Submissions will not be returned.

   • Send your complete submission to:

     The Jack Webster Foundation
     6209 Angus Drive
     Vancouver, BC
     V6M 3P2

   • Finalists will be announced in September and winners announced at the Annual Awards Dinner. The winning submission in each category will receive a cash award and one Webster statue.

For more information contact The Jack Webster Foundation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. If I reported on a story in May, 2007 and it continued with more reports in June, 2008, may I enter all the stories, given that the entry period is June 1, 2007 to May 31, 2008?
A. Yes, if your story begin in May and continues into June, then it should be entered for the 2008 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.