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Farm Writers' Media Release Excellence Award

Did you write the best media release on an agricultural or rural issue in 2009?

The Farm Writers’ Association of NSW Inc. is looking for the best media release that prompted or featured in editorial material published or broadcast during 2009.

The winner will receive $500 cash and a certificate to mark their achievement.

The deadline for entries is close of business Friday, 30th July, 2010.

The Association confers several annual awards aimed at journalists with full details available on our website. Our intention is to recognise and encourage excellence in the other area of communication of interest to our members – that of crafting a message on a significant agricultural or rural issue and successfully reaching either an urban audience (raising awareness) or a rural one (selling a product or service, mobilising an interest group) by having it picked up by the media.

RULES
Eligibility:
1. The contest is open only to members in good standing of Farm Writers’ Association of NSW Inc.

2. Only one entry will be accepted from Individual (Ordinary, Rural/Retired and Life) members. Corporate members may nominate up to three entries but they must be for different, named individuals or teams of individuals responsible for writing the media release. An individual may not enter more than one media release.

3. Entrants must be normally resident or working in New South Wales or the ACT.

4. The media release must be on a subject of agricultural or rural interest and have been distributed between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. It must have resulted in publication or broadcast as editorial material. Advertorials/infotorials will not be considered.

5. Entrants must agree to give Farm Writers’ Association free rights to publish the release on the website and in publicity about the awards

Judging criteria
6. Quality of writing and professional approach: the media release will be judged on creativity, clarity and content, accuracy and completeness.

7. Impact: how the media release was ‘picked up’ and used by target media (how often its contents had been reported, how much of the media release had been picked up and used, if the lead of the release became the lead of a story, if a clever suggested headline became a published headline, if the release changed the way an issue had been reported) and if the release had ‘the x factor’ that made a journalist (and the judges) want to read on.

8. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Prize:
9. The winner will receive $500 in cash and a certificate.

To enter:
In 50 words or less, describe why the media release was significant or clever and why the resulting coverage was significant. Include details of at least two examples of ‘pick up’ showing the names of the publication or web site/station where the story was published/broadcast along with the date and issue of the publication/name of the program. ‘Pick-up’ must show some link to the original media release, but does not necessarily mean publication or broadcast of the entire contents of the media release.

Attach an electronic copy of the media release to an email and send it with your 50 word entry to: opportunity@nswfarmwriters.org

The email must be received by close of business Friday 30th July, 2010.

The e-mail must also contain the following:

• If the entrant is an individual member: the name, address, e-mail address and telephone number of the entrant.
• If the entrant is a corporate member, the name and address of the organisation, the name, email address and telephone number of the principal corporate contact and the name, position, email address and telephone number of the author.
• Evidence of the date of distribution.

Electronic proof of publication (for example, a jpeg showing the article as published along with the name of the publication/website and the date of publication or an mp3 of a broadcast along with proof of date of broadcast) must be provided. Files sent with the email should not exceed 60KB for images and 1MB for Multimedia files. Larger files should be sent on CD/DVD to “Opportunity” GPO Box 1108, Sydney, NSW 2001.