Sunday, March 21, 2010
From the Newsroom: It's nice to win contests, but readers are the ultimate judges
From the newsroom
Michael Stowe, managing editor
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You can read elsewhere on this page about how our newsroom captured more than two dozen awards at the Virginia Press Association's annual meeting Saturday night at Hotel Roanoke, as well as several more at the Virginia News Photographers Association convention in Richmond.
And earlier this month we earned national recognition in several other competitions: The Associated Press Sports Editors named our Sunday sports section as one of the nation's 10 best among papers with circulation of 40,000 to 100,000; sports writer Katrina Waugh's story about the Salem Red Sox winning its division last season was recognized as one of the top 10 game stories in the same contest; and photographer Kyle Green won an award for excellence at the 67th annual Pictures of the Year International competition for a photo of William Fleming High School's soccer team watching a European Cup match.
We're quite proud of those honors and the dozens of others we've earned through the years.
But although it's nice to get recognized by our peers, our biggest reward and the goal of our newsroom is reporting stories that resonate and make a difference in this community. In other words, we shouldn't pursue a story because we think it may win a contest.
Our written standards and practices (which you can read on roanoke.com) specifically address this point: "The content of our paper will be initiated because it has intrinsic news value or serves the community's interest, not because it promises the chance of recognition or monetary gain from an outside source."
So, why enter contests at all?
We believe that the newsroom benefits -- by increasing credibility with readers and sources and boosting employee morale -- when the quality of our work is recognized outside the community. And readers gain, too, because the competitions push us to constantly improve our journalism and make sure it holds up against our industry peers.
To protect our credibility, those same standards require that we be selective in the types of competitions we enter. Staffers are encouraged to enter contests sponsored by professional organizations of journalists, such as VPA and APSE, but we don't compete in contests designed to promote the commercial or political interests of businesses or groups.
But you, and others who read the paper and visit the Web site, are the most important judge of our work.
So, please, drop me a note -- or comment on our From the Newsroom blog on roanoke.com -- and tell me how we're doing.
