Enter Today Call for Entries Neal Awards Information FAQs
How to Enter the Neal Awards Demo Video
Categories
1. BEST SINGLE ARTICLE
ENTER: Any substantive article dealing with subjects, events or developments of importance to the target audience or industry. Entry may contain sidebars and other supporting elements as long as the main article can be distinguished from the secondary ones.
DO NOT ENTER: A regularly-featured column, commentary or department.
2. BEST SUBJECT-RELATED SERIES OF ARTICLES
ENTER: In-depth package of two or more stories dealing with subjects, events or trends of importance to your target audience or industry. Entries may include a combination of print or digital content, but must clearly reflect a single, cohesive editorial package. Print articles may be from either a single issue or multiple issues of the publication. Content from single-theme issues may be entered either in this category or Best Single Issue, but not in both.
DO NOT ENTER: Columns, a single article with sidebars, or educational or instructional packages (see Best Instructional Content).
3. BEST PROFILE
ENTER: A profile that spotlights a person, business, institution or association. The profile should bring the subject to life and illustrate the subject’s relevance to the target audience or industry. Entries will be judged on objective, thorough reporting, which includes the profile subject’s strengths and weaknesses.
DO NOT ENTER: Single-source interviews, Q&As (unless used as a supporting element of a broader profile package), or a series of articles on a single subject.
4. BEST COMMENTARY
ENTER: Three examples of opinion-based columns, editorials or viewpoints by a single author or team of authors. Impact on the target audience or industry can be addressed in the background statement on the online entry form. Subject matter may cover a single topic or a variety of topics. Individual blog posts may be entered either in this category or in Best Blog, but not in both.
DO NOT ENTER: Publishers’ memos.
5. BEST NEWS COVERAGE
ENTER: Breaking news coverage and news analysis of an event or issue of importance to the target audience or industry. This can be a single article (print or digital), a series of articles (print or digital), or a combination of print and digital coverage. Enter only significant examples that advance the story and no more than 10 articles. Explain why this news coverage was particularly useful to your audience.
DO NOT ENTER: Feature articles, profiles, technical articles or commentary.
6. BEST TECHNICAL CONTENT
ENTER: Any carefully researched, in-depth technical content (print or digital). Entry must demonstrate clear, concise writing and creative presentation of complex data, information and ideas. Entries may include sidebars and supplemental Web components.
DO NOT ENTER: News stories, editorials, strategic analyses, advertiser-supplied white papers or how-to articles.
7. BEST INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT
ENTER: A single example (or up to three examples from a single-topic series) of instructional content that informs the audience how to do their jobs better or more productively. The emphasis should be on direct instruction such as in “how-to” articles and continuing education articles. Entries may be from print or digital media, including written articles, instructional videos, webcasts, webinars, podcasts or other interactive online materials (e.g., quizzes, schematics, surveys, etc.).
DO NOT ENTER: News stories, editorials, strategic analyses, advertiser-supplied white papers or technical articles that do not focus on practical application.
8. BEST SINGLE ISSUE OF A MAGAZINE
ENTER: A single issue that best exemplifies your overall mission and reflects your magazine’s typical format. It must be part of your regular publishing cycle and distributed to your full circulation. Any content outside of the regular format, such as advertorials or supplements, must be clearly identified as such. Content from single-theme issues may be entered in either this category or Best Subject-Related Series, but not in both. For both print and digital entries, the entire issue must be submitted.
DO NOT ENTER: Websites, newsletters, bonus issues outside the regular publishing cycle or stand alone supplements.
9. BEST SINGLE ISSUE OF A TABLOID/NEWSPAPER
ENTER: A single issue that best exemplifies your overall mission and reflects your publication’s typical format. It must be part of your regular publishing cycle and distributed to your full circulation. Any content outside of the publication’s regular format, such as advertorials or supplements, must be clearly identified as such. Content from single-theme issues may be entered in either this category of Best Subject-Related Series, but not in both. For both print and digital entries, the entire issue must be submitted.
DO NOT ENTER: Websites, newsletters, bonus issues outside the regular publishing cycle or standalone supplements.
10. BEST WEBSITE
ENTER: A website that consistently maximizes the use of the medium’s immediacy, depth and interactivity to fulfill its editorial mission and delivers the highest standards of business-to-business journalism. Entries should include a compelling and relevant mix of content, rich media, ease of use and audience engagement, as well as the creative use of the online medium to serve the target audience or industry.
DO NOT ENTER: Websites that are not editorially controlled or websites that contain no original content. Submitted websites should not hyperlink editorial content to advertising or other sponsored material.
11. BEST INTEGRATED PACKAGE
ENTER: A cross-platform package of materials representing integrated coverage of a single story, topic or theme. Include three or more distinct elements that create a fully integrated editorial package for the target audience or industry. Elements may include print content, digital content, multimedia pieces, interactive web features or tools, print or electronic newsletters, and online or in-person events. Submissions must reflect how ¬¬-the different elements are integrated and provide access and connectivity across platforms. Entries will be judged on the quality of the content as well as the quality, clarity and effectiveness of the integration.
DO NOT ENTER: Repurposed print articles with no interactive or other web- or event-related elements; packages with fewer than three elements or with advertorial content.
12. BEST BLOG
ENTER: The main page and three sample posts from a blog that emphasize journalistic excellence, reflect deep industry expertise and present a unique voice that spurs audience interaction and discussion. Blog entries should showcase original elements not possible in a print publication, such as user feedback or other interactive features. Entries must have made their first appearance online. The blog must be updated at least once a week by one or more authors to be eligible. Blog posts may be entered either in this category or in Best Commentary, but not in both.
DO NOT ENTER: Articles or columns with no interactive elements or web-specific aspects, such as those prepared for print publication and simply repurposed online.
13. BEST RANGE OF WORK BY A SINGLE AUTHOR
ENTER: Three to five examples that showcase a single author’s work across at least three different editorial genres (e.g. news, analysis, in-depth features, commentary, video, audio, blogs and/or social media). Winning entries will have demonstrated excellence by incorporating a variety of journalistic styles and approaches with an emphasis on market leadership, enterprise reporting, novel storytelling techniques, and/or creative uses of print and digital media.
DO NOT ENTER: Content produced by multiple authors and content from only a single editorial genre. If you are entering a piece in this category, you can submit it in another category as well.
14. BEST NEWSLETTER
ENTER: Three examples of a print or electronic newsletter focused on a topic of interest to your target audience or industry that is distributed at least quarterly. The newsletter must contain complete articles and predominantly original content. The content may also appear elsewhere or in another format but must originate in the newsletter.
DO NOT ENTER: Newsletters that contain primarily summaries or links to online content or promotional newsletters that contain advertorial content, unless that portion of the content is explicitly labeled as advertising.
15. BEST USE OF VIDEO
ENTER: links to three examples of videos that are either stand-alone entities or enhancements to other content. The videos must contain original material that was exclusively controlled by the editorial department.
DO NOT ENTER: Promotional, advertorial or commercial videos in which the sponsor of the video is featured.
16. BEST USE OF MOBILE
ENTER: Examples of content published on a handheld device — iPad or other tablet computer, e-reader, smartphone, etc. — that enhance a title’s editorial mission and brand. Entries should reflect an engaging, appropriate and compelling service offering as well as creative use of the medium, whether content is delivered via an app or traditional internet protocols. Judges will be looking for individual products and/or evidence of a coherent strategy to address the content needs of a mobile audience in a particular market segment. Judges also recognize this is a fast-changing area of activity and so will accept a broad definition of mobile media and welcome innovative approaches.
DO NOT ENTER: A version of your existing website optimized for mobile users.
17. BEST RECURRING WEBCAST
ENTER: links to three episodes of a scheduled online series — video, audio, narrated slides or other multimedia programming. Episodes must be published to a regular schedule — e.g., daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly — and under an umbrella title for the series. identified as such.
DO NOT ENTER: Promotional, advertorial or commercial programming for which the publication or website has been compensated to include specified subjects, guests or presenters. Webinars should be entered in Best Instructional Content category.
18. BEST USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
ENTER: Examples of social media participation that enhance a title’s editorial mission and brand. Judges will be looking for evidence of successful strategy of engagement with a title’s audience through, though not limited to, the use of social networks such as Facebook, linkedIn and Foursquare; microblogs such as Twitter and Tumblr; content sharing and collaboration services such as YouTube, Flickr and wikis, and/or user-generated content and blogs that expand a title’s own editorial coverage. Judges will be looking for either outstanding examples of targeted engagement with a particular segment of a title’s audience or evidence of a broad and continuing strategy of engagement with all its audience. Judges recognize this is a fast-changing area of activity and so will accept a broad definition of social media and will welcome innovative approaches.
DO NOT ENTER: Automatically-generated material and content generated by marketing departments.