The Johnnies

JHM Journalism Awards » The Johnnies

The Johnnies are a series of student journalism awards originally launched in 2003.

These awards were envisioned to be similar in character to the National Newspaper Awards, started by the Toronto Press Club in 1949. The awards exist to celebrate and reward the excellence that can be found in so many publications at universities and colleges across the country.

The awards are open to any students whose work has been published in a student publication at post-secondary institutions in Canada.

One winner from each category will be awarded $500. There will be two honourable mentions in each category. Shortlists will be released in January and the winner will be announced at the CUP National Conference during the JHM Gala.

Additionally, winners' names will be added to a plaque that will be stored in the CUP head office and brought to each annual conference for showcasing.

Nominations for the 2009-2010 year are now closed. The shortlist will be announced in December 2009, so stay tuned.

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Awards will be distributed in the following categories:

2006-07 JHM Coordinator Amanda McCuaig and 2007-08 JHM secretary William Wolfe-Wylie announce the awards (Photo by Tom Barnett / Excalibur)

English Writing Awards

News Writing: for excellence in reporting and writing, under deadline pressure, in covering a developing story.

Sports Writing: For excellence in sports coverage, either as news or features.

Arts and Culture Writing: For excellence in arts and culture coverage, consisting of news or feature work. Arts reviews, criticism, and profiles are accepted in this category.

Features Writing: For excellence in feature writing, for a single story, with a minimum of 800 words and a maximum of 4000 words. Multi-part series of three articles or less will be accepted if they are within the word limit.

Investigative Writing: For excellence in investigative journalism, either a single piece or series, either news or feature. For in-depth research into an issue of social, economic or environmental importance for Canada. The topics can include education, discrimination, workplace rights and safety, poverty, ethics, business, science, and so on.

Solutions-oriented Writing: (sponsored by The Tyee) For excellence in solutions-oriented journalism, either a single piece or series, either news or feature. For in-depth research and reporting on successful innovations which could move Canadians closer toward ecological sustainability, equality, and economic vibrancy. This may include an emerging body of knowledge, small scale experiments or wider initiatives yielding tangible, positive results. The topics may include education, the environment, human rights, economics, worker safety, health, addiction, gender and sexuality, poverty, government, consumer ethics, and so on.

Diversity Reporting: (sponsored by CWA/SCA Canada) CWA/SCA Canada, the oldest media union in Canada, is offering a $500 prize for the best reporting on diversity and equity issues by any student whose work has been published in a student publication at post-secondary institutions in Canada. The union is offering this prize to encourage excellence in reportage of diversity and equity, a sphere much neglected by today's media.

Labour Reporting: (sponsored by CWA/SCA Canada) CWA/SCA Canada, the oldest media union in Canada, is offering a $500 prize for the best labour reporting by any student whose work has been published in a student publication at post-secondary institutions in Canada. The union is offering this prize to encourage excellence in reportage on Labour issues, a sphere much neglected by today's media.

2007 Tyee award for investigative writing award winner Angela Wilson (Athanaeum) receives her award from Tyee founder David Beers (Photo by ana maria kresina / Peak)

French Writing Awards

French News Writing: For excellence in French reporting and writing, under deadline pressure, in covering a developing story. Submissions are limited to a single story.

French Arts and Culture Writing: For excellence in French arts and culture coverage, consisting of news or feature work. Arts reviews, criticism, and profiles are accepted in this category.

Visual Awards

Photography: For excellence in news, sports, or features photography for a single picture or a series of up to three pictures related to the same subject. Factors for judgement include deadline pressures and difficulty of assignment if relevant. For news the following will be considered: impact, news judgement, timing, reflex, composition, and creativity. For sports: drama, humour, poignancy, as well as reflex and technical accomplishment. For features: preference given to entries that demonstrate drama, humour, or human interest. Images may not be digitally altered beyond traditional lightening, darkening, and colour balance.

Layout/Design: (sponsored by Campus Plus) For excellence in newspaper presentation of a one to two page body of work from the interior of a publication or a cover. Preference will be given to submissions that demonstrate imaginative, informative design and illustration. Other factors of judging will be use of colour, artistry, text positioning, fonts, typography, clarity, headline drama, and impact.

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Please note the following stipulations for nominations:

  1. Improperly submitted entries may be disqualified.
  2. To be eligible, an entry must have been published first in a student newspaper between the dates of October 16, 2008 and October 16, 2009.
  3. To qualify, the entrant must not have received direct funding from anyone other than the newspaper in which the entry first appeared.
  4. A story may comprise a main story and one closely-related sidebar.
  5. An entrant is any individual or group of up to five individuals who submit(s) an entry and who is/are identified on the entry ballot.
  6. The same entry will not be accepted in more than one category.
  7. If an entry does not comply with the restrictions of the intended category, the JHM Coordinator may, in their sole discretion, amend the entry to bring it into compliance.
  8. Individuals may nominate their own work or that of other individuals. All nominees and nominators must have been affiliated with an eligible student publication at the time the work was originally published.
  9. In the event of a tie, any prize money will be split between the winners.
  10. Each qualifying entry will be considered in competition with all others duly entered in the same category by a panel of three judges selected by the JHM Coordinator.
  11. All judges' decisions are final.
  12. The person submitting the entry, and any sponsor, warrants that the representations in the entries submitted are accurate and that each entry is an original work and that in the case of an entry in a photograph category it has not been manipulated or adjusted so as to mislead the viewer or misrepresent the subject in any manner.
  13. Prizes must be accepted as awarded and are not transferable.
  14. Before an entrant is declared the winner of an award, the entrant and any sponsor must sign a declaration of compliance with the rules, a release, and an indemnity and a license to publish, record, or present the entry. By submitting the entry, the entrant grants to the advisory panel the right to publish the entry in any manner and use the name and/or photographs of all award winners and sponsors without compensation in any advertising or publicity.
  15. CUP accepts no responsibility for any entry which is lost, stolen, destroyed, misdirected, or delayed.
  16. In evaluating the merit of an entry, judges shall consider:
    • The criteria for the respective categories;
    • Professional journalistic ethics and commonly accepted standards; and
    • The staffing resources available to the entrant permit, to the greatest extent possible, entries from small newspapers on the same basis as those from larger newspapers.

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