ACP Best of Show

The ACP Best of Show contest is available to all student media outlets attending the virtual Fall National College Media Convention.

Entries must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. ET / 10:59 p.m. CT Friday, Oct. 8.

(The convention registration deadline is 11:59 p.m. ET Wednesday, Oct. 13.)

ACP’s virtual awards presentation for Best of Show is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 16.

The contest fee is $30 per entry for ACP members and $45 per entry for nonmembers.

Sign up and pay for Best of Show entries during the convention registration process. When this is completed, you are ready to use the new BetterBNC award platform to submit your Best of Show entries.

If your publication submitted ACP Individual Awards this spring, you should use the same Open Call account to submit Best of Show awards. If you are using the BetterBNC site for the first time, creating an Open Call account is required and takes only a few minutes. After you are completed, ACP must approve your account; however, you may begin submitting entries.

ACP Organizational Recognition

The awards in this category are presented to the student media outlet. Only one submission is allowed in each category.

1A. Feature Magazine: Submit the most recent issue as PDF file or URL link.

1B. Literary Arts Magazine: Submit the most recent issue as PDF file or URL link.

1C. Newspaper (Two-year campus): Submit PDF file or URL link for one print issue from the current school year (after June 30, 2021).

1D. Newspaper (Four-year campus with 10,000 students or less): Submit PDF file or URL link for one print issue from the current school year (after June 30, 2021).

1E. Newspaper (Four-year campus with more than 10,000 students): Submit PDF file or URL link for one print issue from the current school year (after June 30, 2021).

1F. <NEW> DIgital Newsletter: This new category is for digital newsletters highlighting top stories and breaking news delivered by email. Submit PDF file for one newsletter from the current school year (after June 30, 2021).

1G. Website (Two-year campus): Submit URL.

1H. Website (Four-year campus with 10,000 students or less): Submit URL.

1I. Website (Four-year campus with more than 10,000 students): Submit URL.

1J. Broadcast News Program: Submit URL. Entries consist of a single broadcast news program aired between June 30, 2021, and the contest deadline. (i.e., a YouTube or Vimeo link). The news program must be housed on a site or channel owned by a school student media outlet and not a personal site or channel.

1K. Yearbook: Submit PDF file or URL link for the 2020-21 print volume. You may also ship the print yearbook for arrival by Oct. 8, 2021, to ACP, 2829 University Ave. SE, Suite 720, Minneapolis, MN 55414. 

1L. Advertising Rate Card: Designed by student(s) for a student media operation for the 2021-22 school year. Submit PDF file or URL.

1M. Advertising Special Newspaper Section: A special advertising edition/section of the newspaper designed to generate revenue and provide sponsored feature content. Options include back-to-school, homecoming, orientation, welcome-back editions, holiday gift guides, fashion, housing guides and “best of” publications. A center spread is not considered a special edition. Submit PDF file or URL link of one print issue published after Jan. 1, 2021.

ACP Individual Recognition

The awards in this category are presented to individuals or teams of up to five staff members. There aren’t any restrictions on the number of entries. All entries should be published after Jan. 1, 2021, by your student media outlet.

1N. Blog: Must reflect journalistic standards in topic, coverage and writing and should appear on your college student media outlet’s website. Submitted by URL and published after Jan. 1, 2021.

1O. Podcast: Delivers relevant content through engaging audio storytelling and should appear on your college student media outlet’s website. Submitted by URL and published after Jan. 1, 2021.

1P. Print Design: Single-page or double-page spread appearing in a print newspaper, magazine or yearbook. Submit PDF file of print newspaper design published after Jan. 1, 2021. Magazine and yearbook designs should be from the most recent publication.

1Q. Photojournalism: News/feature photo appearing in print or online. An image file (JPG, TIF, PNG) is required along with a caption. Image should be published after Jan. 1, 2021.

1R. Broadcast News Story: Demonstrates broadcast news-gathering and reporting skills. Produced and aired after Jan. 1, 2021, on a student media website or television station. Submitted by URL. 

1S. Multimedia News or Feature Presentation: Storytelling using multimedia techniques including interactive graphics, photography, audio and video. Text with still images on a webpage is not multimedia storytelling. Published after Jan. 1, 2021, on a student media website. Submitted by URL. 

1T. Social Justice Reporting: With a focus on equity and inclusion, news stories in this category are welcome from print, broadcast and online student media outlets. Submitted by URL for broadcast and online and PDF file for print and published after Jan. 1, 2021.

1U. Advertisement (print, online, video, audio): Produced by student(s) for a client and published or aired on student media. Submitted by URL for broadcast and online and PDF file for print and published after Jan. 1, 2021.