SIPF Awards Put You in Good Company
Twenty years ago—the first year that the then “Annual Journalism Awards” were officially sponsored by the Foundation—Mine Regulation Reporter of Pasha Publications, Inc., won for its coverage of the William Station mine disaster in Kentucky. Ellen Smith was the editor and Tod Sedgwick publisher. Sedgwick is now the U.S. Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, Smith the managing editor of Mine Safety & Health News, and the SIPF Awards still matter for staking your place in a valued industry.
Twenty years ago—the first year that the then “Annual Journalism Awards” were officially sponsored by the Foundation—Mine Regulation Reporter of Pasha Publications, Inc., won for its coverage of the William Station mine disaster in Kentucky. Ellen Smith was the editor and Tod Sedgwick publisher. Sedgwick is now the U.S. Ambassador to the Slovak Republic, Smith the managing editor of Mine Safety & Health News, and the SIPF Awards still matter for staking your place in a valued industry.
In last year’s SIPF Awards presentation at SIPA 2010, Lisa Getter, twice a part of Pulitzer Prize-winning teams at the Miami Herald, stood tall among the honorees. The fact that she entered shows how much the awards still matter. (Smith was an honoree as well last year.) On the other end of the experience spectrum, the awards can help build careers of younger journalists, like another 2010 winner, Modern Distribution Management’s Jenel Stelton-Holtmeier. “Having my work recognized by SIPF provided an added level of credibility for my work and helped establish me as a credible resource for the industry.”
With the April 1 deadline fast approaching, it’s definitely time to take a few moments out of your busy day to enter the 2011 SIPF Editorial and Marketing Awards. Entering the SIPF Awards—start by downloading the forms off the SIPF Website—will take a short time; but if you win, the impact on your career will last forever.
Another of last year’s winners said this: “Winning first place in SIPF’s Marketing Awards last year was an honor. It is especially nice to be recognized by an outside body, where your work is compared across a larger peer group by independent judges. The accolades I received from my supervisor and co-workers after getting the award are something I will always remember.”
Categories for the editorial awards this year include:
Best Spot-News or Exclusive Single-News Story;
Best Investigative Reporting;
Best Interpretive or Analytical Reporting;
Best Instructional Reporting;
Best Financial-Advisory Product;
Best Single-Topic Product;
Best Reference Publication or Directory;
Best Interactive Content.
The two marketing awards are for:
Best Print Effort;
Best Non-Print Effort.
A further impetus to enter comes from the impact an award can have on an entire office or company. Here’s another 2010 winner commenting on that facet: “Winning the SIPF award gave our newsroom an immediate morale boost and led to better story assignments for me, as my editors felt I had proven my ability to cover more complex, in-depth stories.”
Of course, expectations grew for that reporter—as they should. But even more importantly, the award factored into her getting a promotion to executive editor. That’s impact. Honorees last year represented a wide range of companies, from UCG to the Leeb Group, from OPIS to Providence Publications, from InvestorPlace Media to EB Medicine. First-place winners receive $500 in addition to the notoriety. A key change in the rules last year now allows media or design agencies to enter on behalf of their clients.
Other winners from 1991 included UCG owners Bruce Levenson and Ed Peskowitz, now also owners of the Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Thrashers; Llewellyn King, who has had a distinguished career at places like The Energy Daily, The Washington Post and his own television show, “White House Chronicle; and Stephen Leeb, current editor of The Complete Investor. Along with Ambassador Sedgwick, that’s a pretty distinguished group.
“The SIPF Editorial and Marketing Awards are recognition for outstanding effort. But to win that recognition you have to enter,” says Helen Hoart, president of StayWell Consumer Health Publishing and an organizer of the awards. “If you’ve never entered before—or it’s been awhile—I encourage you to do so this year.”
Check out the Editorial and Marketing brochures today and send in your entries! As you see, an SIPF Award can really go a long way.
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