facebook logo    YouTube logo    LinkedIn logo    RSS logo    mobile phone icon
NFPW Home About NFPW Join NFPW NFPW annual conference NFPW News Competitions Hall of Fame First Amendment Resources Member Home Page contact NFPW

NFPW Conference Ad

shield law Ad

shield law Ad
rss logo   Keep up with the latest NFPW competitions news. Click the orange icon for the RSS feed.

2009 COA Nominees
Click photo for larger version.

The Communicator of Achievement Affiliate winners gather around the 2009 COA winner Heloise.

Communicator of Achievement

The Communicator of Achievement Award is the highest honor bestowed by National Federation of Press Women upon those members who have distinguished themselves within and beyond their profession.

Learn more about the COA award, requirements, and previous honorees.

High School Communications Contest

2011 High School competition winners: The National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) honored 83 national winners in its annual High School Communications Contest during an awards luncheon Sept. 10. The luncheon took place during the NFPW's annual conference in September 2011. See the list of winners!

2012 High School Communications Contest: We believe the High School Communications Contest sponsored by National Federation of Press Women inspires students to excel in their quest for excellence. The only nationwide communications competition for high school students, the contest is endorsed by the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Dow Jones announces first-place winners and promotes the competition in its publication distributed to journalism advisers across the nation, giving students and their teachers/advisers local and nationwide recognition.

For questions or other information about the high school contest, please contact the NFPW High School Communications Contest chair:

Karen Rowley
c/o PAR
4664 Jamestown Ave.
Suite 300
Baton Rouge, La. 70808
kmrowley059@gmail.com
225-892-0684

General Information
Students compete in 18 categories: Editorial, Opinion, News Story, Feature Story, Sports Story, Environment, Column, Review, Feature Photo, Sports Photo, Cartooning, Graphics/Photo Illustration, Single-Page Layout, Double-Truck Layout, Video News Story, Video Feature Story, Video Sports Story and Yearbook. The Yearbook category is a new one for the 2012 competition.

Each winner will receive a certificate, with first-place winners also receiving $100 cash. Honors are presented during the High School Communications Contest Awards Luncheon at the annual conference. Some state affiliates provide financial assistance to students who attend the conference to receive their awards.

Work eligible for the 2011 competition must have been completed between Feb. 15, 2011, and Feb. 28, 2012.

State Competitions
Students living in a state with an NFPW affiliate participate through their state’s high school competition. Students should contact their state high school competition director (.doc, .pdf) early in the school year for local details. Most state deadlines are in January and February to allow time for judging and processing for the national contest. First-place state winners advance to national competition.

Entry fees for the first-place state winners sent to the national competition are $10 per entry. A check for the entire amount of entry fees must accompany the entries.

At-Large Competition
Only those living in a state where there is no NFPW affiliate or where the affiliate does not conduct a contest may compete on an at-large basis.

These states have no NFPW affiliate: Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia. In addition, students attending Department of Defense Schools overseas are eligible to enter the At-Large Contest.

First-place at-large winners advance to the national competition. Entry fees for the at-large competition are $10 per entry, and

At-large entries must be postmarked by March 7, 2012, and should be sent to the At-Large Contest director:

Bonnie Atwood
4808 Monumental St.
Richmond, VA 23226-1204
bonatwood@verizon.net
804-358-3745

For complete information on the competition:

  • 2012 Guidelines (.doc, pdf)
  • 2012 Contest Entry Form (.doc, pdf)
  • State high school competition directors (.doc, .pdf)
  • High school contest judging forms
  • Contest directors: Winning entries from state affiliates and the at-large contest must be postmarked no later than April 7, 2012. Mail packet of entries first-class priority or express mail to the NFPW High School Communications Contest director:

Karen Rowley
c/o PAR
4664 Jamestown Ave.
Suite 300
Baton Rouge, La. 70808
kmrowley059@gmail.com
225-892-0684

National Contest Overview

The annual NFPW Communications Contest, which provides an opportunity to compete in a wide range of categories, encourages and rewards excellence in communication. Entries are judged by leaders in their fields of expertise. NFPW contest winners are honored at the NFPW Annual Communications Contest Awards Banquet.

2012 Communications Contest

All 2012 national contest entries must have been published, issued, broadcast or e-published between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011.

Direct all contest questions to Gwen Woolf at gwenwoolf@hotmail.com or 540/972-1789.

NEW ADDRESS FOR CONTEST ENTRIES:
200 Little Falls Street, Ste.405
Falls Church, Va. 22046

  • 2012 Contest Divisions and Categories (.doc, pdf)
  • 2012 Contest Guidelines (.doc, pdf)
  • 2012 Compilation Form — Affiliate Contest Directors (.doc, pdf)
  • 2012 Judge Instructions (for national contest) (.doc, pdf)
  • 2012 Contest Entry Form (.doc, .pdf)

Eligibility for the National Contest

Only work that has received a first-place award in an affiliate or at-large contest is eligible for entry in the NFPW National Communications Contest. If you win first place in a category in an affiliate or at-large contest, the contest director will ask if you want to submit your winning entry to the national competition.

The fee for each entry, regardless of the number of co-entrants, is $20. Some affiliates pay for their members' submissions and some require payment by the entrant. In either case, the affiliate and at-large contest directors are responsible for submitting your work to the national contest by the postmark deadline (March 12, 2012 for books/fiction/verse; March 26, 2012 for all others) for the national contest. NOTE: Affiliate deadlines are earlier; please check your affiliate deadlines.

All entrants to the national contest must be 2012 professional, student, or retired members of NFPW. Click here to join NFPW.

Affiliate and At-Large Contests

NFPW affiliates throughout the U.S. have annual communications contests that provide affiliate members an opportunity to compete against regional colleagues in a broad range of categories set by NFPW.

The affiliates contests have entry deadlines in the month of January. Be aware that each affiliate contest has its own specific deadline. Please contact the affiliate contest director in your area for the contest deadline.

Download the list of at-large and affiliate contest directors (.doc, .pdf). (Updated Nov. 16, 2011)

Where there is no state affiliate, the member is eligible to compete in the at-large contest.

Submit At-Large contest entries to:

Cathy Petrini,
NFPW At-Large Contest Director
10 West Alexandria Ave.
Alexandria, VA 22301-2015

For more information about the at-large contest, e-mail Cathy Petrini or call 703-739-8186.

Postmark deadline for the At-Large Communications Contest has been extended to Saturday, February 18, 2012.

Sweepstakes Competitions

The contest entrants accumulating the most points (based on the number of his or her winning entries and the number of competing entries in those categories) are named recipients of the NFPW Sweepstakes Award. Cash awards of $250 for 1st place, $150 for 2nd place and $100 for 3rd place are given to individual winners. The affiliate with the most sweepstakes points receives a $100 cash prize.

Judging and Award Recognition

Your entry in the national communications contest will compete against all other entries in that particular category. Entries are judged by leaders in their fields of expertise. Judges are not NFPW members and do not enter work in the competition. Judges are asked to provide constructive comments for each entry and provide a merit rank to determine 1st, 2nd and 3rd place and honorable mention.

Once the entries are judged and returned to NFPW headquarters, the winners are notified by e-mail. Typically the results are known by July 1, giving time for national contest winners to make plans to attend the NFPW annual communications conference in September.

First-place entries are displayed during the conference. The awards banquet is held on Saturday night during the conference. Winners are honored individually by the NFPW membership and guests in attendance; handsome award certificates are presented to winners by the NFPW president. Judges' comment sheets and award certificates are mailed directly to winners unable to attend the conference.

Members who win in the national competition are supported with additional materials to help them promote their award(s) to the public and professional communities.

The 2012 Communications Contest Awards Banquet will be held on September 22, 2012, during the annual NFPW National Conference in Scottsdale, AZ.

Winners can order special engraved award plaques. (.doc, pdf)

Previous Winners and Honorees

  • 2011: (.pdf)
  • 2010: (.pdf, xls)
  • Past Communicators of Achievement and Sweepstakes Award winners: (xls)