Alex Burrows, in his last announcement of NPPA Picture Editing Quarterly Clip Contest (PEQCC) annual winners after ten years of chairing the contest, announced that The Palm Beach Post photography editing team won the top Gold honor in the 2004 editing competition. The Post amassed 790 points during 2004. Silver honor went to The Hartford Courant with 540 points, and Bronze honor to The Virginian-Pilot with 250 points.
“Congratulations to The Post,” Burrows said. “This is a year-long competition and involves judging at the end of each quarter. More than 20 judges from different newspapers, magazines, and universities participated. Congratulations to all the teams in the top ten, and thanks to all who participated.” Winners are chosen by giving point value to newspaper pages in top entries in five categories of news, sports, feature, picture page and multi-page.
Awards Of Excellence went to the newspaper picture editing teams who rounded out the top ten finishers. Those newspapers are: The San Jose Mercury News, 160 points; The Raleigh News & Observer, 140 points; Los Angeles Times, 130 points; The Rocky Mountain News, 110 points; The Star Tribune, 100 points; The Sacramento Bee, 90 points; and The Record (Bergen County, NJ), 60 points.
Burrows, director of photography for The Virginian-Pilot, stepped down as the contest’s chairperson after ten years of working as a volunteer organizing the PEQCC. In March, NPPA president Bob Gould appointed Mark Edelson, presentation editor for The Palm Beach Post, to fill the position.
“We work really hard to craft a strong visual report of the news, whether its the war in Iraq or a high school track meet,” Edelson said after Burrows announced the winners. “We’ve got a long way to go before we really get it right, but we’re making an effort to nurture the creative relationships among editors, designers, reporters and photographers that make for better storytelling.” Two of The Post’s winning pages, “Daddy’s Little Girls” and “The Athens Olympics,” were done by turning the broadsheet newspaper sideways in the design.
“We experienced a horrendous hurricane season, and The Post’s storm coverage garnered a number of awards. What was most gratifying, however, is that the majority of pages that earned recognition in the contest involved coverage of other events, ranging from a father and daughter dance, to the Olympics, to Shaquille O’Neill’s signing with the Miami Heat. It’s encouraging that our peers felt we served our readers well not only during crises, but every day.”
When he was named as the contest’s new chairperson in March, Edelson said, “I urge you to enter. This is a national contest and winning is good for you and it’s good for your newspaper. It will help you and your department gain respect in your newsroom, and it will bring your newspaper to the attention of other journalists and journalism students, and perhaps interest them in working with or for you. And if you can attract more good people it will better your paper and reward your readership.”
Please send 2005 PEQCC entries to: Mark Edelson, Presentation Editor, The Palm Beach Post, 2751 South Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, FL, 33405. Please send questions to medelson@pbpost.com.
