OFFICIAL CONTEST GUIDELINES & CRITERIA

The contests are divided into three types namely individual, group and special overall
awards. The individual contests consist of 9 basic journalism skills events while the group
contests are composed of print, online and video. Special overall awards are obtained by
calculating the cumulative points of both individual and group contests.

As accustomed, awards for each contest category will be from 5th place down to the first
place. With this, a total of 70 medals are at stake for the individual contests, 10 plaques
and 40 certificates (with limited edition RTSPC holder) for the group contests and 2
customized trophies for the special overall awards.

Please take note that the Campus Headliner, which is the official student publication of the
Southern Leyte State University (SLSU) Main Campus, will not participate in any of the
contest events being the organizer and convener of RTSPC 2016. SLSU’s satellite/branch
campuses, however, are allowed to join the contests. They may, however, distribute copies
of their publication and exhibit some of the promotional video materials that they have
recently produced.

I. INDIVIDUAL CONTESTS
§ Who may enter?

This competition is open to all RTSPC participating HEIs. One participant may join
up to three individual categories only.

To join, participants must fill-out the contest entry form at the Secretariat’s table
upon registration of participants on the first day (February 4, 2016) of the
conference.

§ Contest categories:

a. Straight News Writing (English & Filipino)

b. Column Writing (English & Filipino)
c. Investigative Writing (English & Filipino)
d. Feature Writing (English & Filipino)
e. Sports Writing (English & Filipino)
f. Copyreading and Headline Writing (English)
g. Desktop Publishing (English)
h. Photojournalism (English)
i. Editorial Cartooning (English)

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 § Special Requirements:

We require the participants of desktop publishing contest to provide his/her own

laptop installed with any design software (e.g. Adobe InDesign, Corel Draw, and
Microsoft Publisher, among others).

Meanwhile, contestants for photojournalism are also required to bring his/her own
DSLR or any digital camera before they can join in this event.

Finally, only the paper canvass will be provided by the organizers for the editorial
cartooning while drawing materials (e.g. pencils, charcoal, colored pens and
markers) will have to be prepared by the participants.

§ Criteria for judging:

Straight news writing, opinion writing, investigative writing, feature writing, and
sports writing will be judged based on the following:

Criteria Weight
Value, importance or worth of story 40
Quality of reporting and quotes 20
Quality of writing and editing 20
Credibility and leadership 10
TOTAL 100%

Desktop publishing entries will be judged based on the following:

Criteria Weight
Effective use of photos, color, art, graphics and typography 40
Established visual hierarchy 20
News Judgment for Page One 20
Suitability for respective audience 10
Contemporary appeal 10
TOTAL 100%

Photojournalism and editorial cartooning entries will be judged based on the

following:

Criteria Weight
Reader impact 40
Community importance 20
Artistic quality 20
Originality, clarity of message 20
TOTAL 100%

Copyreading and headline writing entries will be judged based on their adherence
to the established rules for copyreading and headline writing. Participants must
therefore be able to follow strictly the established rules. Participants will be given
copies on which they will perform what is required of them in 30 minutes.

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II. GROUP CONTESTS
§ Who may enter?

The group contests are open to all RTSPC participating HEIs. One school is allowed
only one entry in every contest category with their material released within the
school year 2015-2016. Print publications, online materials and videos that have
won awards in past competitions are not eligible as entry for this competition.

To join, a representative of the school must fill-out the contest entry form at the
Secretariat’s table upon registration of participants on the first day (February 4,
2016) of the conference.

For print publications, schools will need to submit 10 copies for every entry while
only the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) will be required for both the website and
the social networking site. For videos, on the other hand, schools will have to
submit their entries in CD or DVD format with proper labeling.

§ Contest categories:

A. Print

Best Magazine

In matters of clarity, what is considered an entry for this contest is a school

periodical containing miscellaneous pieces (as articles, stories, poems) and often
illustrated. The entry must therefore exhibit evidences that the magazine has been
published periodically and not just for the sake of having an entry in this contest
category in RTSPC. Hence, evidences that lend credence for the entry being
published regularly may include: Volume number, indications of frequency of
publication (whether annual, semi-annual, quarterly) and year of publication.

Best Tabloid

A tabloid is a newspaper that is about half the page size of an ordinary newspaper
and that contains news in condensed form and much photographic matter. The
entry must exhibit as well that it has been published regularly. Evidences that lend
credence for the entry being published regularly may include: Volume number,
frequency of publication, and date of publication.

Best Newsletter

A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic

that is of interest to students of an HEI. It must also exhibit evidences of being
published regularly. Evidences that lend credence for the entry being published
regularly may include: Volume number, frequency of publication, and date of
publication.

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 Best Special Publication

Publications that do not fall under the magazine, tabloid, newsletter and literary
folio categories are considered “special publications”. Hence, what qualifies as
entries to this contest category are publications that are not released on a regular
basis.

Best Literary Folio

A literary folio is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. This

publication usually publishes short stories, poetry and essays along with literary
criticism, book reviews, and biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters.

B. Online

Best Website

A website is a set of related web pages containing content (media), including text,
video, music, audio, images, etc. A website is hosted on at least one web server,
accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network
through an Internet address known as a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

Best Social Networking Site

A social networking site is an online service, platform, or site that focuses on

building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people that
allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual
networks.

C. Video

Best Short Film

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an
original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all
credits". For this year’s RTSPC use, an entry is considered a short film if it is an
original production of either one or a group of students from RTSPC participating
schools that does not exceed 15 minutes focusing on any theme.

Best Documentary

A documentary constitutes of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document

some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a
historical record. Entries for this category have no cut-off time duration for as long
as it is able to document some aspect of reality of any theme.

Best school, press, or advocacy promotional video

The video can be of any length for as long as it is able to highlight the school or the
school’s press.

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 § Criteria for judging:

Magazine, tabloid, newsletter, special publication, poster and literary folio entries
will be judged based on the following:

Criteria Breakdown of Points Weight

Content 60%
Coverage (variety of topics, relevance, 30
interest)
Quality of writing and reporting 20
Originality of theme 10
Layout 40%
Overall Design 20
Appropriateness of photographs and other 10
art graphics
Readability 10
TOTAL 100%

Websites will be judged based on the following:

Criteria Weight
Content 35
Overall Design 30
Use of graphics 15
Interactivity 10
Ease of navigation 10
TOTAL 100%

Social Networking Sites will be judged based on the following:

Criteria Weight
Content 30
Interactivity 30
Use of graphics 20
Integration with Official Website 20
TOTAL 100%

Best short film, documentary and school/press/advocacy promotional video will be

judged based on the following:

Criteria Weight
Message content/relevance 40
Technical quality 20
Journalistic integrity, courage and ambition 20
Writing and editing of the script 10
Recording and editing of the show 10
TOTAL 100%

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III. SPECIAL OVERALL AWARDS

§ Journalist of the Year 2016

The participant who will be able to garner the most number of total points in the
basic journalism skills events will be accorded the “Journalist of the Year Award”.
In case of a tie, the board of judges will have to split this by re-evaluating the
papers of the qualifiers.

§ Campus Press of the Year 2016

The campus press organization that will garner the most number of total points
from all contest categories will be awarded the “Campus Press of the Year Award”.
The pointing system is as follows:

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

I. INDIVIDUAL CONTESTS
News Writing (English) 25 20 15 10 5
News Writing (Filipino) 25 20 15 10 5
Column Writing (English) 25 20 15 10 5
Column Writing (Filipino) 25 20 15 10 5
Investigative Writing (English) 25 20 15 10 5
Investigative Writing (Filipino) 25 20 15 10 5
Feature Writing (English) 25 20 15 10 5
Feature Writing (Filipino) 25 20 15 10 5
Sports Writing (English) 25 20 15 10 5
Sports Writing (Filipino) 25 20 15 10 5
Copyreading and Headline Writing 25 20 15 10 5
(English)
Desktop Publishing (English) 25 20 15 10 5
Photojournalism (English) 25 20 15 10 5
Editorial Cartooning (English) 25 20 15 10 5

II. GROUP CONTESTS

A. Print
Magazine 50 40 30 20 10
Tabloid 50 40 30 20 10
Newsletter 50 40 30 20 10
Special Publication 50 40 30 20 10
Literary Folio 50 40 30 20 10
B. Online
Website 50 40 30 20 10
Social Networking SIte 50 40 30 20 10
C. Video
Short Film 50 40 30 20 10
Documentary 50 40 30 20 10
School/Press/Advocacy Promotional Video 50 40 30 20 10