Entry Process: duPont-Columbia Awards

Honoring the Best in Broadcast News Programming

NOTE: The application deadline has now passed.

Enter online for the duPont-Columbia Awards

To enter follow these steps:

1. Complete the online entry form.
2. Upload your submission.
3. Mail us 2 DVDs or CDs of your entry.

After completing the online entry form, you will receive a duPont ID number via e-mail. Keep this number to identify your submission material. Detailed instructions for uploading will also be sent.

Entry fees are now payable by credit card. A checklist of what we need from you is located at the bottom of the page.

We will accept entries for Web-based productions, including audio slide shows.
The jury will look for the best example of an original news story using video or audio that is broadcast exclusively online.

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We invite you to submit entries in the following categories:

• Network and Nationally Distributed Cable Programs
  
• Major Market Stations (DMA 1-10)
  
• Medium Market Stations (DMA 11-50)
  
• Small Market Stations (DMA 51 and higher)
  
• Independent Productions
  
• Local Radio
  
• National Radio
  
• Web-based Productions

Eligibility

• Programs must have aired for the first time in the United States between
  July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009.
  
• Entries that aired in the U.S. in languages other than English are eligible, as long as they are accompanied by English subtitles on screen or a complete transcript in English. Onscreen subtitles are preferred.
  
• Programs that are principally historical re-enactments with actors and costumes are not eligible for duPont consideration. However, journalistic treatments of historical periods and their relevance to current issues are eligible.
  
• See FAQs at www.dupont.org.

Entry Deadlines

Long-form entries running longer than 2 hours must be received by June 15.  All other entries must be received by July 1. Extensions will be granted at the sole discretion of the Director.

Entries Will Be Reviewed

Entries will be reviewed by a Board of Screeners, many of whom are past duPont Award winners. The Board of Screeners will refer the best programs to the duPont Jury. Finalists will be selected in the fall, and the awards will be presented at Columbia University in January 2010.

What Makes a duPont Winner?

The duPont Jury looks for excellence in reporting and evidence of commitment to important stories. We especially encourage the submission of daily news stories and breaking news coverage as well as feature stories, a series of related reports or selections from a correspondent’s beat reporting in a given year. A series of reports or a submission of a single reporter’s work should demonstrate consistently high quality over time. If you are submitting a correspondent’s coverage of a beat during the eligibility period, please submit reports in their entirety with studio introductions, if possible. We will not accept edited “highlight” reels.

Breaking News Coverage

If you are submitting coverage of a breaking news story like Hurricane Katrina, the duPont Jury prefers to receive only one consolidated entry from a news organization. Please include entire segments in chronological order separated by a few seconds of black. Please list these segments the program description, giving the air date for each segment. The duPont Jury looks for insightful coverage sustained throughout the event or crisis and afterward. We will not accept narrated highlight reels, and the submission may not exceed 2 hours. The entry deadline for breaking news coverage is July 1.

Local Stations Take Note

The duPont Jury is especially interested in reporting by local radio and television stations about community issues. In recent years, local stations have received duPont Awards for outstanding coverage of racial conflicts, corruption, child abuse, poverty, the environment, and reporting on local institutions.

Supporting Material

Write a brief program description of your entry in the online form and attach up to three Word files or pdf’s of supporting material. The duPont Jury invites original Web site material to be submitted in conjunction with specific television and radio news entries. Web entries and material should be kept live through January 2010 with a url designated /dupont.

Checklist: What We Need From You

• Complete online entry form.
• 2 DVDs for each television and web entry; 2 CDs for each radio entry LABELED WITH YOUR DUPONT ID NUMBER. Please exclude commercials.
  
• All entries running one hour or less must also be uploaded. Please follow instructions for uploading available here and in the e-mail confirmation you will receive upon completing the online entry form.
  
• Entry fees are payable by credit card
• Optional materials such as Web sites, transcripts, reviews or press releases, if available, can be attached to the online entry form.

Send Two DVDs or CDs - with your duPont ID number - to:

The Alfred I. duPont Center
Columbia University
Graduate School of Journalism
2950 Broadway, MC 3805
New York, NY 10027
You will receive an e-mail confirming receipt of your entry. Entries will not be returned.

Questions?

Call 212-854-5047, e-mail dupontawards@jrn.columbia.edu or visit www.dupont.org for answers to frequently asked questions.

Finalists will be contacted in November, and winners will be announced in January 2010.