2016 Best in Business The 2016 BIB deadline has been extended to Feb. 7 at midnight EST. Welcome to the 22 nd annual Best in Business awards competition, sponsored by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. This contest covers work published, broadcast and posted in the calendar year 2016. Click here to start the entry process. Click here for FAQs about the Best in Business contest. Fees Entry fees are: $70 for Story Type and Story Topic categories $135 for General Excellence categories Freelancer entry fees are: $55 for Story Type or Story Topic categories Freelancers must pay the full entry fee at the time of submission. You may then send an email to bib@sabew.org to request a refund for the $15 per entry. Students: $25 for Student categories Staff Hours SABEW staff will be available by email (bib@sabew.org) or phone (602-496-7862) to help with BIB questions and entries, Mon. Fri. from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST.
2016 Best in Business Guidelines Eligibility: The Best in Business contest is open to regular members of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers in good standing as of the date of entry. Regular membership is defined by SABEW s constitution and bylaws, particularly Article III, https://sabew.org/about/constitution-and-bylaws. Good standing means SABEW received your membership dues and your membership is current as of the date you submit your entries. Check your membership status on your member profiles, https://membership.sabew.org/membership/profile. For entries with more than one byline, one person must be a SABEW member in good standing. Please direct your membership questions to sabew@sabew.org. Payment: Unless prior arrangements are made with SABEW, payment must be made by VISA, MasterCard, Discover or American Express through the secure BIB contest system. Payment must be received for an entry to be judged. Please note: When submitting multiple entries, the contest system does allow you to leave payment until all entries have been submitted. Judging: Each category will be judged by a panel of business journalists who will award one winner and up to two honorable mentions. No honorable mentions will be named in categories with fewer than 10 entries. Up to one honorable mention will be named in categories with 10 to 20 entries. Up to two honorable mentions will be named in categories with more than 20 entries. Judges reserve the right to move an entry into a different category if they deem it mis-categorized. (In order for a category to be judged, there must be at least five total entries submitted from three different news organizations.) Notification and recognition of winners: Winners and Honorable Mentions will be notified in March 2017. Winners will be recognized during the SABEW spring conference in Seattle on April 29, 2017.
2016 BIB GUIDELINES AND CATEGORY DESCRIPTIONS There are 25 contest categories in 2016, including the General Excellence and Student Journalism awards. News organizations will be judged against similarly-sized organizations, regardless of format, unless otherwise noted. (Freelancers will be grouped based on size of the outlet that published their work.) Categories are broken out by size, determined by the news organization s total editorial staff. Small: Fewer than 50 editorial staff Medium: 51-250 editorial staff Large: 251+ editorial staff. Industry Publications: There will be an additional General Excellence category for industry- or topicspecific publications. Otherwise, these publications will compete against other similarly-sized news organizations. GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD Only one entry allowed per news organization or publication A cover letter of up to 250 words may be submitted as a PDF attachment with entries. (Style the PDF title like this: yourpublicationcoverletter.pdf) Entrants will demonstrate general excellence by submitting at least three, but no more than five, elements from the following areas of coverage (as PDFs or permalink URLs): A. Breaking news, scoop: A news story exclusive to your organization. B. Breaking news, event: Verizon s purchase of Yahoo, announced on July 25 Entrants may include a 100-word description of the full day s coverage plan to give a broader context. C. Explanatory/Feature: One enterprise story of the agency s choosing. D. Investigative/Project: The main story of a large-scale project or investigative piece. Entrants may include a 100-word description of the overall package. E. Visual Storytelling: A stand-alone visual story -- could be a video, a series of related photographs or an interactive data visualization. STORY TYPE AWARDS
There is no limit on the number of entries per news organization; however, any individual story may only be entered into one story type. (For example, same story or package of stories cannot be entered into investigative and explanatory categories.) News organizations compete against other similarly-sized organizations, regardless of format, unless otherwise noted. (Freelancers will be grouped based on size of the outlet that published their work.) An entry shall consist of no more than three elements, submitted as PDFs or permalink URLs. An element can be a text, audio or video story, or an interactive. Accompanying photos and static graphics will not be counted as elements. A cover letter of up to 250 words may be submitted as a PDF attachment with entries. (Style the PDF title like this: yournamecoverletter.pdf) Breaking News: Coverage of a single news event on the day it breaks. Can be reactive reporting, or proactive news broken by a reporter or news organization s reporting staff. Investigative: In-depth, enterprise reporting that: a) presents important and necessary information that was unknown to the general readership/viewership and was unavailable from other sources before publication; and b) demonstrates an obvious need for change in law/policy/behavior. Explanatory: In-depth reporting and writing that presents, analyzes and simplifies a single important topic and/or news event in a way that allows audiences to understand it more clearly. Feature: Enterprise storytelling that may be presented as a trend story, a profile, or a narrative, that draws on in-depth reporting to offer fresh discovery or insight in a memorable way. Commentary/Opinion: Reported coverage that reflects the point of view of a writer, writers, and/or news organization. Category includes unsigned editorials, individual columns, and blogs. Video: Coverage that is visually compelling and deeply engaging, demonstrating excellence in visual storytelling. Audio: Coverage that demonstrates excellence in audio storytelling. (News organizations of all sizes will compete against each other in this category.) Innovation: Entries should demonstrate a new and creative way to report, tell and/or distribute stories. STORY TOPIC AWARDS There is no limit on number of entries per news organization; however, any individual story may only be entered into one story topic. (For example, same story or package of stories about automated driving cannot be entered into autos/transportation and technology categories.)
News organizations compete against other similarly-sized organizations, not by format, unless otherwise noted. (Freelancers grouped based on size of outlet that published their work.) An entry shall consist of no more than three elements. An element can be a text, audio or video story, or an interactive. Accompanying photos and static graphics will not be counted as elements. Submit entries as PDFs or permalink URLs. A cover letter of up to 250 words may be submitted as a PDF with entries. Not required. (Style the PDF title like this: yournamecoverletter.pdf) Energy/natural resources Airlines/travel Autos/transportation Health/science Technology Media/entertainment Economics International reporting Retail Markets Banking/Finance Personal Finance Small Business Real Estate Management/leadership/career STUDENT JOURNALISM
An entry shall consist of no more than three elements. An element can be a text, audio or video story, or an interactive. Accompanying photos and static graphics will not be counted as elements. Submit entries as PDFs or permalink URLs. A cover letter of up to 250 words may be submitted as a PDF with entries. Not required. (Style the PDF title like this: yournamecoverletter.pdf) Stories Written for Professional Publications Stories Written for Student Publications Note: Judges reserve the right to move an entry into a different category if they deem it miscategorized.