Journalisman awarding experience

One similarity between the news media and the entertainment industry is that they're both big on contests. Seems like practically every weekend you can catch an awards show on the tube, from the Oscars to the Emmys to the Country Music Awards to more obscure fare.

Saturday night Laura and I got caught up in a program called "The Top 100 Songs of the '80s." We were taken with the show's concept because, prior to our remote-control arrival at this particular cable channel, neither of us believed there were even 100 good songs from the '80s. The countdown was based on some kind of survey, however, and didn't involve a sales pitch for a CD set. And yeah, most of the tunes were catchy and familiar. We came around, begrudgingly, but don't ever try to make us watch "The Top 100 Songs of the '90s."

Anyway, newspapers have plenty of contests as well. I've worked places where newsroom employees were reassigned to contest duty for long weeks, organizing entries in all kinds of categories for all kinds of competitions.

I personally believe there are better ways to assess how you're doing in the newspaper business, such as listening closely to compliments and complaints of readers. And in a business where we produce a distinct, original product that we can hold in our hands every day, journalists generally have a pretty good idea how they've done by the time they're driving home — hours before that product is on other people's porches. By then we already know what we could have done better, the story that got away, etc.

Nevertheless, it is nice to see how you stack up against other newspapers of similar size. The trick is figuring out which contests to enter. Some lack credibility because they're run by a particular industry that the media is covering. Even such a reputable organization as the American Medical Association, for example, shouldn't be expected to give you the straight scoop on which newspaper did the best job of reporting on medical issues. Same goes for the teachers union and education reporting.

Not all journalism contests judged by journalists are created equal, either. In fact, some are downright slipshod. At least twice in my longish career, I've been lured into last-minute judging sessions by free lunches. This came about when a higher-up editor actually responsible for the judging dropped the ball. Cramming down gratis pizza while assessing the relative merits of out-of-state newspaper stories during an extended lunch hour is not the way to decide a newspaper competition.

Even the best-run contest is highly subjective. Show me a Pulitzer Prize-winner, and I'll show you an entry that probably had already lost out in lower-level competition.

When I came to The Triplicate, I decided that we would enter just one competition — the one run by the California Newspaper Publishers Association. It represents a way to compete against the entire state, in the under-10,000 daily circulation category, and its "Blue Ribbon Panel" of judges included some heavy hitters in the industry.

I'm proud of what we won. Specifically, first place in the photo essay category for Bryant Anderson's rare close-up look at the St. George Reef Lighthouse, first place for environmental reporting for former staff writer Michelle Ma's five-part series on Klamath River issues, and the team effort that took second place in page layout and design.

I'm even prouder of a talented staff's day-to-day efforts to produce a strong product that is heavy on local coverage but also rounds up news and sports from around the state, nation and world.

So you won't hear me bragging much about how our little publication is tops in the state in certain categories. No shameless promotion here. Although I should mention that glossy prints and a computer mouse pad featuring those award-winning photos of St. George Reef Lighthouse are available for purchase in the newspaper lobby.