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Multimedia contest rules?

James Nix Oct. 5, 2010, 10:17 a.m. permalink

Howdy all,

I've been charged with writing new rules governing the multimedia entries of a POY contest and I would like some feedback on the types of multimedia everyone here is producing on a regular basis and/or seeing produced.

It seems to me there are three main types of newspaper multimedia: audio slideshows (i.e. sound slides), straight up videos, and a mixture of the two (using video and stills). Is there enough difference between the last two or can they be categorized together? Or is it fair to lump all three together?

Another concern is the varying degrees of multimedia. An extremely well done quick hit feature can have a hard time competing against a long-term project on a more serious topic. But is there enough of the later out there to qualify for its own category?

Is there much spot news/general news multimedia, or is it predominately features?

Any thoughts would be much appreciated,

Cheers,

James

Reviewer

Peter Huoppi Oct. 5, 2010, 11:36 a.m. permalink

Most contests seem to be divided between audio slideshow and video. I think a video that incorporates photos is still a video.
What I haven't seen in contests, and what I would like to see, is separate categories for daily vs. projects. I'm not sure where you draw the line, but in most contests, the daily type stories that would be equivalent to feature single or spot news in photo contests ave no chance in video contests when they're put up against projects that people have spent weeks on.
It probably depends a lot on the volume of entries. The NPPA BOP conetst separates into sports, news, feature and documentary. But the monthly NPPA contest only has individual video and team video. It doesn't seem like the monthly contest gets enough entries to justify splitting those categories further at the moment.