Forms

Sponsor
The AP News Executives Council of California and Nevada is an organization for member newspapers of the Associated Press which fosters member contacts with the AP and sponsors professional improvement meetings and seminars.

Eligibility
Any photo or news graphic produced by a regular staff member of a California or Nevada AP member newspaper and published during calendar year 2001 is eligible. Note that every photo entered must have been published in the entering newspaper in 2001. There is a separate entry form and fee for the newswriting contest.

Entry Deadline
Entries (both digital and transparency) must be received by the AP no later than Friday, Feb. 15, 2002.

Full information on how and where to submit digital and transparency entries can be found in the "Entry Preparation" section below.

Please send fee checks separately. See "Entry Divisions and Fees" and "Entry Form" sections below.

Entry Divisions and Fees
Each newspaper entering the photo and graphics contest pays an entry fee for the division it enters, determined by daily circulation figures in the most recent Editor & Publisher Yearbook. When several newspapers combine forces on a piece, they can enter their picture or picture package under the combined circulation of all the papers involved.

Division I: circulation is 200,000 or greater. Entry fee: $350

Division II: circulation of 75,000 to 199,000 Entry fee: $250

Division III: circulation of 25,000 to 74,000 Entry fee: $150

Division IV: circulation below 25,000 Entry fee: $100

(Zoned editions of newspapers may submit contest entries only as part of the larger newspaper. Use your AP assessment as a guide. If a newspaper and its zoned edition or editions are considered one newspaper for AP assessment purposes, they're considered one newspaper for contest purposes.)
The entry fee covers up to two entries in each category. Additional entries, up to two, are $25 each. A newspaper may enter a higher circulation division, but all entries of that paper must be moved into the higher level. Entry fees are used for prize money.

Send check with entry form as described in "Entry Form" section below.

Contest Categories
Judging will be in eight categories within each division:

News: A single picture of a news event, scheduled or unscheduled, other than events on Sept. 11 pertaining to the attacks on America (there is a separate Attacks category below).

Sports: A single picture that captures the competitive spirit or human interest in a competitive event.

Feature: A single feature picture, usually of a "found" situation with strong human interest.

Portrait: A single picture that captures the subject's personality.

Picture Story: Use of multiple images to convey a story to the reader. Judging will be on the content and story told by the images, not the page layout.

Business Photo: A single picture that effectively illustrates an aspect of the business world.

News Graphic: Any graphic, combination of graphics or graphic page used to illustrate a single story. Please don't submit illustrations. Judges will consider technical quality, clarity, amount of information, comprehensiveness and execution.

Attacks Coverage: Photos illustrating any aspect of the attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001, published in editions of that day or Sept. 12. Entries may consist of one or more individual photos, or photos in a special section or edition.

Mark Twain Award: This is a best-of-show award for outstanding achievement, chosen from among all first-place winners in all divisions and categories. One is given for newswriting and one for photos/graphics.

Entry Form
Each paper entering the contest should send an entry form SEPARATELY FROM THE ACTUAL PHOTOS. The form should be accompanied by a check for the entry fees. Send one form for the newswriting contest and one for the photo contest.

Send the form and a check to:
APNEC Photo and Graphics Contest
Associated Press
221 South Figueroa Street, Suite 300
Los Angeles, Calif. 90012

Again, please send entry forms, with checks, separately from the actual photos being entered.

Entry Preparation
Photo and graphics entries may be submitted digitally via FTP transmission to the AP, on CD or diskette, or as 35mm slides. Digital entries are encouraged. If you need help determining the best way to submit your entry, please contact California State Photo Editor Tom Stathis at the locations given below.

Entries prepared for FTP transmission should take the same format as PhotoStream wire transmissions. The picture should be compressed as a JPEG file to approximately 500 kb in size. Use baseline standard, not progressive. Include all data called for on the Entry Information Sheet (below) in the PhotoShop File Info caption. This includes:

•NAME OF NEWSPAPER
•CITY
•DIVISION
•NAME OF PHOTOGRAPHER OR ARTIST
•TITLE
•CATEGORY
•PHOTO OR GRAPHIC CAPTION

Entry Information Sheets should also be completed and mailed for each entry, including those transmitted via FTP.

FTP submissions should be uploaded to the following URL: ftp://contest:contest@165.1.59.7

Each photo/graphic contest entry file should be dragged and dropped onto the blank Web page.

Submit photo or graphic transparency entries in 8 1/2- by 11-inch clear plastic slide files, one file per picture, picture story or graphic entered.

CDs and diskettes should be clearly labeled and may be in either PC or Mac-based formats.

Transparencies, CDs and diskettes should be mailed to:
APNEC Photo and Graphics Contest
Associated Press
221 South Figueroa Street, Suite 300
Los Angeles, Calif. 90012

AGAIN, EACH PHOTO, PICTURE STORY OR GRAPHIC, WHETHER MAILED OR TRANSMITTED, MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ENTRY INFORMATION SHEET. An Entry Information Sheet is included in this advisory; please duplicate locally. Please fill out the Entry Information Sheet completely, including caption information, and attach to the CD, diskette or plastic slide file.

Label each entry with your last name, title of entry, division and category number (e.g. "II-5" would mean Division II, Category 5, Picture Story).

Group picture stories in one file. Number each in order of presentation (e.g. 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, etc.) on the diskette or slide under division-category number.

Provide complete caption information. Summarize picture stories on the back of the Entry Information Sheet or attach captions as they ran in the newspaper. Include publication date.

Note if the photo was transmitted to The Associated Press. An additional cash award will be made for entries transmitted by AP.

If you must submit pictures taken from tearsheets, crop out or block out any credit line or masthead.

Don't send original slides.

Sorry, but entries cannot be returned.

Judging and Awards
An impartial panel of judges will select first- and second-place winners in each category of each division. Judges also will choose a best-of-show entry from among all first-place holders. The winner will receive the Mark Twain Award for outstanding achievement.

First-place winners will receive $100 and a plaque. Second-place winners receive $75 and a certificate. The Mark Twain Award winner will receive an additional $1,000 and a trophy.

Winners will be announced on the AP wire, except for the Mark Twain Award. Prizes will be presented and the Mark Twain Award announced and presented at the annual APNEC meeting on May 18 at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif.

Questions?
Please call Tom Stathis in the Los Angeles bureau, 213-626-2500, or e-mail him at tstathis@ap.org.