Callout for Rookies

SPJ Oregon is now accepting nominations for Rookie of the Year awards for 2020 and 2021. 

This award is presented to a journalist who has had their first full-time, non-internship reporting job in the previous calendar year. The Rookie of the Year is honored for a body of work, not just one journalistic project. 

We’re catching up on these awards since there wasn’t one issued for Rookie of the Year in 2020. We’re asking folks to nominate two newbie journalists: one who joined the field between 01/01/19 - 12/31/19 and another who joined between 01/01/20 - 12/31/20. 

This is an important award for new journalists that comes with a $500 cash prize. Even though we missed a year, we wanted to make sure we made this opportunity available to journalists who put in their all during 2019 and 2020. 

The deadline to nominate someone is Wednesday, June 30 .

The Rookie of the Year is selected by board members using the following criteria as guidelines:

1) Eligibility: The intent of the award is to honor a journalist who excelled in his or her first year of paid professional work, undertaken in the calendar year prior to receiving the award. The award is not intended to reward outstanding interns or students. The Rookie of the Year will either reside in or work for a media organization within the Greater Oregon region (Oregon and Clark County, Wash.) Freelance journalists are eligible for the award, as are paid employees of news media organizations.

2) Judging: The contest is judged by members of the chapter’s board. We recognize that in some cases board members may know one or more nominees. In those cases the board members should recuse themselves from the deliberation and final vote.

3) Award criteria: The board recognizes that different media organizations have different needs and products. When selecting the Rookie of the Year, the board should consider the applicants’ demonstrated reporting and writing skills, creativity, news judgment, ability to work independently and as part of a team, and skillful use of sources including public records.

4) Application procedure: Email the board at spjoregon@gmail.com with 3-10 samples of the journalist’s work that were created and distributed in the previous year. Please include at least one but not more than three letters of recommendation which address the applicant’s suitability for the award using the criteria listed in the section above.