Television Guidelines
- Each university may submit two entrants’ work per competition.
- Television entrants must be undergraduate journalism majors or minors attending a university with an ACEJMC-accredited journalism program or must be recent graduates of said program.
- Spring, summer or fall 2024 graduates may enter the 2024-2025 competitions but would not be eligible to participate in the 2025 Championship.
- Entries must have been “aired” in the sense of having been made available to an anonymous audience of substantial size on a station or online or both before the entrant graduated.
- An entry must consists of at least two distinct reports, originating with and produced by the entrant, totaling no more than TEN minutes.
- Entries should be submitted as aired, and not edited substantially for the entry time limit. If a report is longer than the entry time limit, the entrant may enter an edited excerpt.
- Entrants must demonstrate their editing and shooting skills on at least one report.
- The entrant must attempt to appear in a “stand up” in at least one report.
- If the entry is from a professional website or a professional station’s newscast, the producer/news
director must certify in writing that it is primarily the entrant’s work. - Entrants who qualify for the Championship after TV I, may not enter TV II.
- An entrant who has won first place in the Television Championship is not eligible to compete in future
television competitions. - An entry submitted once may not be resubmitted in any other competition or in any other competition year.
How to Enter
- New: Competition entries are submitted through the online application by a school administrator.
- Details are sent to all participating journalism schools. Login codes are provided by the program office.
- To receive information about the program, please contact Program Director Jan Watten:
jwatten@hearstfdn.org.
Television Competitions
Television Competition I: Features
Entries must be non-deadline reporting of personalities, events, or issues. Entries may be based on but not
limited to public affairs, business, investigations, science, sports or weather. Each entry must consist of at least two reports totaling no more than ten minutes. The reports may be part of a longer newscast, but the entry
itself is limited to ten minutes.
Entries may be accompanied by multimedia versions of the reports entered as long as they were produced
primarily by the entrant.
Entries must have been disseminated on air or online or both from September 1, 2023 through November 19, 2024.
DEADLINE: Entries must be received by November 19, 2024.
*The first place winner or Champ qualifier from Television Features is not eligible to compete in Television News.
Television Competition II: News
Entries must be based on coverage of breaking or developing news stories related to campus, community,
national or international issues, sports, business, investigative, science, weather or other current newsworthy matters. Reports must have a hard news focus, regardless of subject. Each entry must consist of at least two reports totaling no more than ten minutes. The reports may be part of a longer newscast, but the entry itself is limited to ten minutes.
Entries may be accompanied by multimedia versions of the reports entered as long as they were produced
primarily by the entrant.
Entries submitted must have been disseminated on air or online or both from September 1, 2023 through
March 18, 2025.
DEADLINE: Entries must be received by March 18, 2025.
National Television Championship
This event is open to the first place winners of TV I and TV II (unless graduated the previous year) and
three “at large” finalists with combined or individual high points from the two TV cpmpetitions.
Dates: May 31 – June 6, 2025
Judging
Entries are judged based on the following criteria:
- Writing
- Reporting
- On-camera presentation
- Editing
- Clarity
- Depth
- Knowledge of subject
- Production values
- Originality
- Visual story telling
- Graphics
- Human interest
