Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism

2008 Winner
Project for Excellence in Journalism

A first-of-its-kind “News Coverage Index,” which provided content analysis of media coverage during the the 2008 election, has earned the 2008 Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism.
The News Coverage Index, produced by Project for Excellence in Journalism (PEJ), provided “real time” content analysis of some 1,300 news stories from 48 different news outlets each week during the election.

Entries/Submissions

Competition for the 2009 award has begun. All materials published during the calendar year are eligible, and must be submitted by Jan. 31, 2010.

Eligibility
The Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism honors work that evaluates news media coverage of significant subjects or issues. The award is intended to recognize constructively critical articles, books, and electronic media reports; academic and other research; and reports by media ombudsmen and journalism watchdog groups. Entrants are judged by professionals from journalism and journalism education. The winner receives $1,000 and is expected to attend the award ceremony and to talk on the subject for which he or she is being honored. The award will be presented May 27, 2010, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

Rules
Eligible for the award are all significant contributions, current or cumulative, consistent with the award's purposes from whatever source, media or otherwise, in the United States. The nomination should include work done (completed or continuing) in the calendar year 2009. Both individuals and media (or other organizations, enterprises, and groups) are eligible for the award, including newspapers, periodicals, and broadcast/cable stations. Anyone may submit an entry on behalf of an individual or organization. There are no application forms. Each entry must be accompanied by a letter describing the nature and results of the work and by the relevant published or aired material and/or other necessary documentation. Electronic media entries should be submitted in the form of audio or video (on DVDs) when possible, with final scripts or summaries. To facilitate judging, please submit four copies of each entry. In the case of cumulative work, limit entries to representative examples of such work.

About the Award
The creation of the Bart Richards Award for Media Criticism was announced at a ceremony at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on October 27, 1994. The award recognizes distinguished contributions to the improvement of print and broadcast journalism through responsible analysis or critical evaluation. The award is one of the few in the country to take a hard look at the media and the job being done by publishers, editors, and reporters.

Submit entries by January 31, 2010 to:
Bart Richards Award
Penn State College of Communications
302 James Building
University Park, PA 16801-3867