Newspaper Critique

Publication________________________________________________ School ___________________________________________________ Address__________________________________________________ Award____________________________________________________

Pennsylvania School Press Association

Annual Evaluation Service

The purpose The Pennsylvania School Press Association sponsors publication evaluations as a service to student journalists and their advisers. Through this evaluation, PSPA provides guidance, constructive suggestions, and commendations to help each publication achieve excellence.

The process All participants are eligible for recognition as follows: Gold Award, Silver Award, and Bronze Award. All publications receiving Gold Award are automatically entered into a second round of judging to determine All State Awards. All-state awards are the highest awards bestowed by PSPA and are announced. at its annual convention in November. The PSPA judges are chosen from a pool of professional journalists and out-of-state certified journalism educators. These judges score each publication holistically, applying the criteria of the appropriate PSPA Publication Scoring Guide. These scoring guides, available at http://paschoolpress.org/ are designed to maximize feedback from the judge. While PSPA strives to promote good journalism, judges are instructed to approach each publication on its own terms, according to its editorial philosophy. If your staff has chosen to explore new journalistic territory, it is important that you explain in the comments you enclose with the entry. Also, be aware the junior high and middle school publications are held to age-appropriate standards. A GOLD AWARD publication consistently demonstrates mastery of journalistic standards in content, writing, design, and photography. The publication need not be perfect or exhibit state-of-the-art trends, but it does achieve excellence in each area. A SILVER AWARD publication demonstrates adherence to the basic principles of journalism, but does not exhibit excellence in EVERY aspect of the publication. A BRONZE AWARD publication demonstrates an incomplete or inconsistent mastery of journalistic concepts. This publication needs substantial work on content, writing, design, and/or photography. It may rely too much on journalistic jargon or gimmicks and/or may not take a sufficiently journalistic approach. It may also exhibit careless editing, libel, poor taste, or “yellow journalism."

Content/Coverage

Standard Above Standard

At Standard

Below Standard

Consistently covers total school population without overemphasizing glamour activities.

Maintains appropriate balance (including hard news, features, human interest, personality profiles, sports, reviews, and other appropriate and interesting content).

Localizes relevant out-of-school issues and events.

Covers municipal, state, national and international events that relate to students.

Reports information in a timely fashion.

Emphasizes advance coverage.

Publishes frequently enough to provide meaningful coverage and connect with readers.

Emphasizes student perspective.

Targets school community as the primary audience.

Commendations for Content/Coverage

Maintains balance of standard stories, in-depth coverage and briefs.

Covers major topics with multiple elements.

Includes informative sidebars, polls and infographics regularly.

Sports coverage includes seasonal sports, features and opinion.

Encourages contributions from non-staff individuals.

Recommendations for Content/Coverage

Content/Coverage

Standard Above Standard

At Standard

Below Standard

Avoids gossip or advice columns.

Publishes editorial policy at least once a semester.

Includes unsigned staff editorials in every edition.

Includes columns, reader forums and other opinion pieces.

Exhibits willingness to address sensitive or controversial topics when necessary.

Advertising, if included, is appropriate to audience and consistent with editorial policy.

Avoids content that is an invasion of privacy.

Avoids content promoting disruptive behavior or illegal activity.

Rating for Content/Coverage Gold Silver Bronze

Writing

Standard Above Standard

At Standard

Below Standard

Avoids passive voice and imprecise diction.

Is neither wordy nor redundant.

Is highly readable, exhibiting clear focus and organization.

NEWS ARTICLES:

Reflect thorough and accurate research,

Include appropriate and necessary context, background.

Avoid editorializing.

Emphasize context and consequences of events.

Exhibit balanced and objective reporting, including interviews of all principles.

Appropriately attribute both direct and indirect quotations.

Uses quotations liberally without stating the obvious or repeating information.

Exhibit adequate development with rich details.

Avoid plagarism and/or copyright violations.

ARTICLE LEADS:

Exhibit originality.

Attract reader.

Commendations for Writing

Standard Above Standard

At Standard

Below Standard

Establish main focus of story and an appropriate tone.

Avoid use of school name, nickname, or mascot.

Use strong, precise diction.

OPINION/COLUMN WRITERS: Support assertions with concrete evidence and thorough research.

Show fairness.

Convey a positive, constructive tone.

Provide leadership by suggesting thoughtful solutions to problems.

SP0RTS WRITERS: Avoid cheerleading and other editorial commentary, except in personal columns.

Avoid predictions or making excuses for losing.

Provide analysis, rather than mere rehashing of games.

FEATURE WRITERS:

Show, don't tell.

Choose tone and style to fit subject.

Rating for Writing Gold Silver Bronze

Recommendations for Writing

Editing

Standard Above Standard

At Standard

Below Standard

Ensures accuracy.

Ensures clean, concise diction, syntax.

Shows consistent use of stylebook.

Avoids invasion of privacy.

Excludes unsuitable language.

Excludes unnecessary content.

Shows attention to standard grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Avoids stereotyping, gender bias.

Maintains suitable paragraph length.

Ensures that full name and title are used on first reference to people.

Avoids synonyms for “said.”

HEADLINES: Create interest.

Pull readers into story.

Summarize and advertise leads.

Commendations for Editing

Editing

Standard Above

Standard At

Standard Below

Standard Contain strong, active verbs.

Avoid triteness and generalities.

Avoid overuse of school name, nickname and initials.

Use present or future tense.

Avoid splitting grammatical units.

Avoid abbreviations and acronyms.

Include appropriate subheads.

Use consistent style of capitalization and punctuation

CAPTIONS: Avoid stating the obvious.

Provide brief interesting stories.

Identify all recognizable people by full name.

Avoid cute statements, gag lines, inside jokes.

Use appropriate tenses, standard grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Recommendations for Editing

Editing

Standard Above Standard

At Standard

Below Standard

Credit photographers.

EDITED COPY: Avoids potentially libelous or obscene content.

Avoids plagiarism and copyright violations.

Rating for Editing Gold Silver Bronze

Design

Standard Above Standard

At Standard

Below Standard

Matches dominant element to news value on every page.

Anchors photo essays with a dominant photo.

Uses design elements (boxes, lines, borders, screens, white space and color, etc.) effectively.

Balances text, graphics, art and photography.

Maintains consistent column width and spacing between elements.

Links related elements between facing pages.

Uses space effectively on double page layouts.

Limits number of fonts, avoiding fonts that are hard to read.

Maintains consistency in external margins, with one element touching each external margin per spread.

Avoids reverse type and dark screens.

Organizes sections effectively.

Uses effective folio lines.

Uses effectively designed and displayed ads.

Commendations for Design

Design

Standard Above Standard

At Standard

Below Standard

Avoids tombstones and gutters as well as long columns of type, hand lettering, and pixelated type or art.

Avoids excessive or confusing jumps.

Uses innovative and trend-setting designs that respect basic concepts of visual presentation.

THE FRONT PAGE: Reflects news values.

Emphasizes major story while showcasing inside stories.

Makes effective use of the fold.

Includes name and address of school as well as date, volume and number in nameplate.

THE OPINION PAGE:

Uses distinct, consistent design.

Excludes advertising.

Contains a masthead with reduced version of the nameplate as well as staff and adviser names, brief editorial policy, ad rates, membership, and policies.

Rating for Design Gold Silver Bronze

Recommendations for Design

Special Considerations In this section, judges consider the newspaper as a total effort, including any special circumstances and any especially outstanding work. Judges may consider, for example, the experience, training, and size of the staff, the budget, availability of equipment, issues of prior review. Extra credit may be given for outstanding work— photography, effective image editing, advertising design, innovative graphics and/or cartooning, for example.

Judge’s Comments

Rating Summary

Content/Coverage ____________________

Writing ____________________

Editing ____________________

Design ____________________

Special Considerations ____________________

OVERALL RATING ____________________ ________________________________________ Judge

Judge