TCCJA
2010
Live
Contest
Rules
and
Instructions




If
you
have
questions
about
the
live
contests,
contact
Beth
Francesco,
817­272­
2027
or
bfrances@uta.edu.



Information
about
live
contests
at
the
TCCJA
2010
convention
is
below.
Advisers

should
review
this
information
with
students
beforehand.
Students
are
responsible

for
bringing
all
needed
equipment
with
them.




Participants
should
bring
the
following:




‐ Their
own
Reporters
Notebooks
or
other
notebooks
and
pens/pencils,
for

taking
notes.
Reporters
and
photographers
will
be
standing
during
the
live

event.

‐ Personal
laptop
computers,
if
available,
with
word
processing
software

(Word
is
preferred).
Laptops
should
be
fully
charged
(in
case
the
contestant

is
writing
in
an
area
without
power
sources).
Remind
students
to
bring
any

power
cords
necessary
for
their
laptops;
none
will
be
available.
Students
in

writing
contests
who
do
not
bring
a
laptop
will
have
access
to
computers
in

The
Shorthorn
office.
If
the
total
number
of
personal
laptops
and
Shorthorn

computers
available
for
the
contests
is
less
than
the
number
of
students
in

writing
contests,
some
students
will
use
a
blue
book
(to
be
provided
by
UTA).

‐ Reporters
and
editorial
writers
using
computers
will
transfer
their
work
to
a

flash
drive,
provided
by
UTA,
and
given
to
judges.


‐ Photographers
should
bring
their
own
digital
equipment.
Lenses
and
other

equipment
will
not
be
provided.
Photographers
will
review
their
photos
on

their
cameras
and
each
will
select
one
image
to
be
transferred
raw
to
a
card

reader
that
accepts
all
cards
except
Micro
SDs.
Any
student
using
Micro
SD

must
bring
his
or
her
own
adaptors
to
use.
Photos
will
be
imported
in

Photoshop,
CS4.



Additional
rules
and
guidelines:

‐ At
the
contest
site,
all
contestants
will
be
given
instructions
about
how
to

save
and
name/label
their
work.


‐ During
the
contest,
contestants
may
not
communicate
with
people
who
are

not
involved
in
the
contest.



NEWS
and
EDITORIAL
WRITERS:
Entries
typed
in
Word
are
preferred.

Participants
should
bring
laptops
or
plan
to
use
UTA
equipment
to
produce
their

work.
Hand‐written
entries
will
be
allowed
only
if
they
are
more
contestants
than

computers.



News
writing:
News
stories
will
be
judged
on
and
should
reflect
the
following:

sound
news
judgment
based
on
the
news
event;
accuracy
of
information;
a
clear,

concise
lede
and
nut
graph;
fair
representation
of
stakeholders;
written
in
news

article
form,
and
resourcefulness
of
the
reporter.
The
article
should
contain
minimal

AP
style,
spelling
and
grammar
errors.
The
news
story
should
not
contain
the

writer’s
opinion
or
unattributed
material.




Editorial
writing:
Editorials
will
be
judged
on
the
following:
a
clear,
concise

statement
of
argument
in
the
body
of
the
editorial;
written
to
represent
the
opinion

of
the
student’s
publication
(not
a
personal
opinion);
includes
relevant
facts
to

support
the
stated
argument,
and
should
contain
minimal
AP
style,
spelling
and

grammar
errors.
Participants
should
submit
editorials,
not
personal
columns.



Editorial
writers,
in
writing
an
editorial
to
reflect
their
publication
rather
than
their

personal
commentary,
should
take
care
not
to
include
their
true
college’s
name
or

their
publication’s
name
in
their
entry,
since
that
could
unintentionally
identify
the

contestant.
At
the
contest,
they
may
be
given
the
name
of
a
college
or/or
publication

to
use
in
the
editorial.





News
photography:
News
photography
entries
will
be
judged
on
the
following:

technical
quality
(focus,
exposure,
etc.),
impact,
news
value,
and
information

provided
by
the
photo
and
cutline;
technique;
subject
matter;
on‐the‐spot
timing;

and
resourcefulness
of
the
photographer.

Each
photographer
will
submit
one
raw,
unedited
image
and
cutline
for
that
image.

The
photo
fill
will
be
submitted
in
.jpg
or
.tif
format.
Images
will
be
downloaded
at

The
Shorthorn
office
in
the
photo
area.




The
contests
will
begin
with
the
live
event
at
approximately
9:30.
All
writing
and

photo
work
must
be
completed
by
11:30
a.m.




COPY
EDITING


RULES:
Copy
editing
participants
will
edit
one
or
more
stories
that
will
be
judged

based
on
the
following:
AP
style,
word
usage,
general
knowledge
and
sentence

editing.
Contestants
also
will
write
a
headline
for
at
least
one
of
the
stories,
which

will
be
judged
as
part
of
the
contest.
Copy
editing
participants
may
bring
and
use
an

AP
stylebook
and
should
bring
two
pencils.
(All
editing
must
be
done
in
pencil.)

The
contest
will
begin
at
10
a.m.
must
be
completed
within
two
hours.



PREPARATION
OF
ENTRIES

Contestants
will
be
given
additional
instructions
for
saving
and
submitting
their

entries
at
the
time
of
the
contest.
All
entries
will
be
submitted
with
a
contestant

number
(not
name)
that
will
be
provided
to
each
contestant
at
the
contest
site.
The

contestant’s
name
and
college
SHOULD
NOT
appear
as
a
part
of
any
entry.
Including

either
may
lead
to
disqualification
of
the
entry.