TIPA On-Site Contest Guidelines

Student Contestants and Faculty Advisers:

Please read the following guidelines carefully for the On-Site Contests.

• SPECIAL NOTE: All Photography contests will be digital. (See photo section for
details). No film developing will be available.

• Writing contest participants may use laptop computers or portable computers (with USB).

• Writing programs must be Microsoft Office Word or Word for Macintosh.

(Save as .doc)

• Bluebooks will also be available for writing contests. Contestants using Bluebooks must
provide own writing instruments (pens with blue or black ink).

All On-Site contestants may witness situations, events, use pre-packaged materials, watch a video
presentation, or may be required to utilize their own creativity or imagination.

Be prepared for anything.

All student contestants should be aware that some On-Site contests may require walking and/or
standing during a portion or the duration of the contests.

CONTEST INFORMATION
1. Only one contestant per school may participate in a contest, except for the Two-Person
Photo Essay. Both members of a team must be from the same school.
2. Each contestant may compete in more than one contest within the limits of the schedule
and subject to approval of the contest monitor if entering the contest area after the
scheduled start time.
3. Writing contests may be on either computer (laptop or portable computer with USB) or
hand written in blue or black ink.
4. Design contests may be done in regular or color pencils.
5. Contestants may use tape recorders with earphones only. Contestants must provide own
note pad and writing instrument for taking notes. AP Stylebooks, thesaurus and
dictionaries may be used.
6. All contestants must pre-register by the deadline for each contest by mail, or e-mail – no
on-site registration will be available. Each convention attendee will be identified with a
numbered badge that will include the contestant’s name and school, which will be
exclusive to that individual.
7. Only contestants who have registered and whose names are included on the contestant list
provided to the activity monitors may be in the contest area at any time.
8. Substitutions may be made, but must be made at the registration table prior to the contest
start time.
9. The On-Site contest coordinator/committee designate along with the TIPA executive
director shall make the final interpretation of contest rules. However, the On-Site contest
coordinator/committee designate will not make an interpretation involving a contestant
who attends his/her institution. In those instances, the TIPA conference program
committee designate or TIPA executive director shall make the interpretation.
 10. All entries submitted in On-Site contests become the property of TIPA.
11. All On-Site contestants must be in the appropriate locations ON TIME for contest
orientation, briefing and instruction.
12. All On-Site contestants must follow guidelines and rules outlined by the monitors.
Contestants not following stated rules may be disqualified from the contest.
13. Contest deadlines will be strictly enforced. No student will be admitted to an On-Site
contest location after the actual contest has started, except with the approval of the
contest monitor. Some On-Site contest times will overlap.
14. It is advised that contestants plan schedules carefully.

NEWS WRITING
(Thursday, March 25 – 3 – 5:30 p.m.
Writing Deadline is One Hour for Each Contest

Contestants may cover a news event (real or created), witness a situation, view an activity (event,
situation or activity may be live or a video presentation) and/or work from documents and related
materials. Dictionary, thesaurus, AP Stylebook may be used. Be prepared for anything.

Radio News Writing – Copy will be between 30 and 45 seconds, containing an audio
insert (written verbatim as cue). Must note the time of all copy, including the audio insert. Use
conventional copy format. Criteria: Attention-getting lead, organization of story, fairness and
balance, accuracy, use of audio insert, style, appropriate story length, grammar, good sentence
length, etc.

Television News Writing – Copy will be between 30 and 60 seconds, containing a video
insert (written verbatim as cue). Must note the time of all copy, including the video insert. Use
conventional copy format. Criteria: Attention-getting lead, organization of story, fairness and
balance, accuracy, use of video insert, style, format, appropriate story length, grammar, good
sentence length, etc.

Print News Writing – Criteria: Lead, story organization, fairness and balance, use of
quotes, identification and attribution, accuracy, readability of story, appropriate length (not
wordy), timeliness, style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.

Spanish News Writing – Criteria: Lead, story organization, fairness and balance, use of
quotes, identification and attribution, accuracy, readability of story, appropriate length (not
wordy), timeliness, style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, style (concurrent with that found in
Mexican, Central or South American Spanish-language newspapers), etc.

News Video - No emphasis on stand-up; narration as necessary to tell the story. In spirit
of OMB / SoJo / Backpack Journalist. One student does it all. No teams. No equipment provided
by TIPA. Capture and edit on laptop. Use any software. Judging Criteria: Clarity - tells the story
accurately, effectively and efficiently, emphasis on camera work, framing, audio, etc. Simplicity -
less is more, avoids gratuitous use of effects, transitions, zooms, pans, etc. Creativity - Looks for
a new angle on an old line, inventive yet disciplined. (All criteria applies to how the package is
shot and edited....I think the contest parameters encourages a level playing field. The student who
wants to bring fancy sound gear, camera mounts, wacky tripods, lights, etc..... only burdens
himself. Simplicity and discipline will rule the day. Decisive shooting, steady shots, judicious
framing, simple editing, clean cuts.) Deadline is 9 a.m. Friday. Entry must be an MOV file on a
CD. Bring entries to Boardroom.
 FEATURE WRITING
(Thursday, March 25 – 12 p.m. get assignment. Story Deadline is 3:50 p.m.)
Stories MUST be written in the contest room.

Contestants may witness or attend a situation, activity or event, or be given a general topic to
develop. Access to sources will be available or may be reporter’s responsibility. Supporting
materials, as appropriate, will be provided. Criteria: Reader interest in lead (colorful,
interesting), logical flow (transition from one part to the next), readability, human interest, color,
avoids trite and contrived clichés, interpretive but not editorializing, effective use of quotes,
effective ending, appropriate length, spelling, grammar, punctuation, style, etc.

ADVERTISING
(Thursday, March 25 – 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.
Deadline is One Hour for Each Contest

Contestants may hear or view a client/product presentation and/or work from relevant documents
pertaining to an actual or fictional product or service. Information sheets will be available.

Radio Commercial Copywriting – Contestants will write two, 30-second spots.

Criteria: Attention-getting appeal, listener identification, simplicity, effective use of music,
contains no false implications, copy flow, uses medium of radio effectively, quality/accuracy of
copy, grammar, spelling, punctuation, continuity between spots, etc.

Television Commercial Design – Contestants will create one, 30-second and one, 10-
second story board. Colored pencils (supplied by the contestant) may be used. Criteria: Concept
(not artistic ability), clarity of campaign appeal, view identification, selection and application of
visual technique, agreement between audio and visual, efficiency of words and scenes, scene
transitions, completeness of video description, continuity of spots, quality/accuracy of copy,
grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.

Newspaper Ad Copy and Design – Logos, art and layout sheets will be provided by
contest coordinator. Colored pencils (supplied by contestant) may be used. The advertisement’s
mechanical size will be five inches by seven inches (5x7). Contestants may select to design their
ad horizontal (7x5 inches) or vertical (5x7 inches). Criteria: Concept (not artistic ability),
creativity, headline, product identification, simplicity, quality/accuracy of copy, attention-getting
appeal, copy length (not wordy), suitability of ad (reflects atmosphere of product or service),
balance and harmony of elements, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.

CRITICAL REVIEW
(Thursday, March 25 – 6 – 11 p.m.
Writing Deadline is One Hour

Contestants’ subject may be related to theater, music, movie, exhibit, museum or literary and may
be presented via live presentation or via video/audio or handouts. Supporting materials, as
appropriate, will be provided. Criteria: Presentation of subject, relevant background, summary of
plot/theme/focus, judgments of impact of work, support of judgments, overall evaluation of work,
grammar, spelling, word choices, punctuation, creativity, style, etc.
 EDITORIAL WRITING
(Thursday, March 25 – 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.
Writing Deadline is One Hour

Contestants may witness a situation, event, activity or be given a topic. Related fact sheet(s) and
materials will be provided. Criteria: Effectiveness (makes a point), logical development,
significantly related to the topic, persuasiveness (takes a definite stand and supports stand), clarity
of expression, is rational, style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.

EDITORIAL CARTOON
(Thursday, March 25 – 1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.)
Deadline is One Hour

Cartoonists may witness the same situation, event, activity or be given the same topic as the
Editorial Writing contestants. Related fact sheet(s) and materials will be provided. Criteria:
Effectiveness (makes a point), logical development, significantly related to the topic, simplicity
(not over-illustrated), persuasiveness (takes a definite stand), clarity of expression, is rational,
style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, creativity, etc.

COPY EDITING
(Thursday, March 25 – 1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.)
Deadline is One Hour

Contestants will edit three stories. Copy will be double-spaced. Contestants must bring a No. 2
pencil with which to edit. Contestants will use standard copy editing symbols and use Associated
Press Style guidelines. Stylebooks, a thesaurus and dictionary may be used. Each piece of copy
will have some errors added. Points will be subtracted for errors that are not corrected.

HEADLINE WRITING
(Thursday, March 25 – 12 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.)
Deadline is One Hour

Contestants will write headlines from as many as five stories from Page One of a recent edition of
a newspaper where published headlines have been omitted. Included may be some, none or all of
the following: A four-column head with kicker (38 count for main line); and a one-column, three-
line head (15 maximum count per line). All contestants will use the same stories. Headlines will
be written down style. The entries must be printed legibly with the writer’s count in parenthesis at
the front of each line. Criteria: Accurate, informative, specific, clean, length (no over count),
readability (reflects atmosphere of the story), strong, active verbs, makes a complete thought,
grammar and spelling. Contestants may use an AP Stylebook and/or dictionary.

YEARBOOK DESIGN
(Thursday, March 25 – 1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.)
Deadline is One Hour

Materials needed:
Contestants should bring a pair of scissors, a black ballpoint pen, a ruler and a glue stick
or double-stick tape.
Contestants will design and paste-up a 2-page (8 ½ x 11-inch) spread, using copy blocks, caption
blocks, photo windows and any graphic element that will work with the design. All printing
instructions must be printed legibly using commonly accepted terminology. Criteria: Story
judgment, headline balance, use of photos, use of graphics, use of tint blocks, use of borders, use
of color, readability of pages, spatial arrangement (design) and simplicity.

MAGAZINE DESIGN
(Thursday, March 25 – 3 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.)
Deadline is One Hour

Materials needed:
Contestants should bring a pair of scissors, a black ballpoint pen, a ruler and a glue stick
or double-stick tape.
Contestants will design and paste-up a 2-page (8 1/2 x 11-inch) spread, using copy blocks,
caption blocks, photo windows and any graphic element that will work with the design. All
printing instructions must be printed legibly. Criteria: Story judgment, headline balance, use of
photos, use of graphics, use of tint blocks, use of borders, use of color, readability of pages,
spatial arrangement (design) and simplicity.

NEWSPAPER FRONT PAGE DESIGN

(Thursday, March 25 – 12 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.)
Deadline is One Hour

Materials needed:
Contestants should bring a pair of scissors, a black ballpoint pen, a ruler and a glue stick
or double-stick tape.
Contestants will use a broadsheet or tabloid format for their layouts with appropriate materials
provided. A selection of elements will be available for use in laying out the front page. Criteria:
News judgment, headline balance, use of photos, use of graphics, readability of page and spatial
arrangement (design).

PHOTOGRAPHY
(All photo contests will be digital. No film developing will be available.)

SPECIAL NOTE: Photographers will NOT be permitted to download photos onto a

computer to edit or manipulate the photos in any way before submitting entries. Failure to
follow this guideline may result in disqualification from the event.

1. Students entered in the On-Site Photography Contests (News Photo, Feature Photo, Two-
Person Photo Essay, Sports Photo) must provide their own equipment and supplies,
including digital camera, related lens, flash units and flash cards/memory cards such as -
Compact Flash I/II, Compact Flash USB, Compact Flash Ultra, Micro Drives, Memory
Stick, Memory Stick Switch, Memory Stick Pro, Magic Gate Memory Stick, Multimedia
Card (MMC), Secure Digital (SD), Smart Media
2. On-Site Photography Contests are scheduled with limited time-overlaps, giving
photographers opportunity for multiple contest participation. However, some contest time
overlap may be unavoidable. Team members of the Two-Person Photo Essay contest
must be from the same school.
3. All photo contests will require cutline/caption information. All contestants must provide
their own information-gathering tools and materials. NOTE: Photos without proper
cutline/caption information will be disqualified.
4. Contestants in each photography contest will meet for instructions and information about
the assignment.
5. Photographers will shoot photos, have the opportunity to self-edit photos on the camera
and select the photo(s) to submit for the contest. Photographers will then bring flash
card/memory card to CASA 340 where the selected photo(s) to be submitted will be
downloaded to a computer storage drive via card readers. After the photo(s) are
downloaded, the flash card/memory card will be immediately returned to the
photographer for the next contest. Judges will review the photos via computer.
6. Photographers must turn in cutline/caption information when photo(s) are downloaded.

Feature Photography (Thursday, March 25 – 12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.) – Photos may not
be staged. Each contestant may submit ONE photo. Photographers must abide by all
guidelines, rules and restrictions pertaining to contest participation. Criteria: Human-interest
element, original point of view, strong, single emotion, emphasis of point of interest,
creativity, suitability for publication and cutline information.

News Photography (Thursday, March 25 – 3 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) – Photos may not be
staged. Each contestant may submit ONE photo. Photographers must abide by all guidelines,
rules, restrictions pertaining to contest participation. Criteria: Capturing essence of the
event, human-interest element, original point of view, emphasis of point of interest,
suitability for publication and cutline information.

Sports Photography (Thursday, March 25 – 1:15 p.m. – 5 p.m.) – Photos may not be
staged. Each contestant may submit ONE photo. Photographers must abide by all guidelines,
rules, restrictions pertaining to contest participation. Criteria: Capturing essence of the
event, human-interest element, original point of view, emphasis of point of interest,
suitability for publication and cutline information.

Two-Person Photo Essay (Thursday, March 25 – 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.) – Photos may not be
staged. Each two-member team may submit a total of FIVE (5) photos to comprise the final
entry. The contest combination must be three photos from one photographer and two from the
other. Photographers must abide by all guidelines, rules and restrictions pertaining to contest
participation. Criteria: Human-interest element, creativity, original point of view, emphasis
of point of interest, suitability for publication and cutline information.

SPORTS WRITING




Print Sports Writing (Friday, March 26 – 1:15 p.m. – 5 p.m.) – Writing deadline is one
hour. Criteria: Lead, story organization, fairness and balance, identification and attribution,
accuracy, readability, appropriate length of story (not wordy), human interest, news value.

Radio Sports Writing (Friday, March 26 – 1:15 p.m. – 5 p.m.) – Writing deadline is
one hour. Copy will be between 30 and 45 seconds and contain at least one audio insert.
Each entry must be in the correct format. Criteria: Lead, organization of story, objectivity
and balance, accuracy, use of audio insert(s) written verbatim as cue, style, correct story
length, grammar and sentence length.

Television Sports Writing (Friday, March 26 – 1:15 p.m. – 5 p.m.) – Writing deadline
is one hour. Copy will be between 45 and 60 seconds and contain at least two video insert
tags. Each entry must be in the correct format. Criteria: Lead, organization of story, fairness
and balance, accuracy, use of video inserts written verbatim as cue, style, correct story length,
grammar and sentence length.

ANCHORING AND NEWSCASTING

Contestants will not be responsible for writing stories. This will be presentation only.
Teleprompters will not be available for TV Anchoring contest.

Radio Announcing (Thursday, March 25 – 12 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.) – Contestants will be

given copy for presentation. They will present the stories live-to-tape for judging. Criteria
for presentation: Newscaster appears to be talking rather than reading, is relaxed and poised
and voice is well modulated.

Television Anchoring (Thursday, March 25– 1:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.) – Contestants will
be given copy for presentation. They will present the stories on camera to be recorded for
judging. Criteria for presentation: Anchor appears to be talking rather than reading, makes
natural eye contact with the camera and is relaxed and poised.

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Contestants may encounter any of the following or combination: witness a presentation,
event, activity, be presented a hypothetical situation or work with pre-printed materials.

Public Relations Release Writing (Thursday, March 25 – 3 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) – Writing
deadline is one hour. Information sheets will be presented. The press release is to be written
from the perspective of the individual, company or organization as the client. Criteria: Lead,
story organization, objectivity and balance, use of quotes, identification and attribution,
accuracy, readability, appropriate length (not wordy), timeliness, grammar, spelling,
punctuation, etc.

Public Relations Crisis Management (Thursday, March 25 – 12 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.) –

Writing deadline is one hour. Participants will be presented with information that requires
critical thinking, knowledge of media relations, legal issues, sound management principles
and ethical considerations. Criteria: Quality of writing, professional presentation of material,
practicality of recommended resolution, knowledge of legal and ethical considerations and
mechanics (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.).