Contest tips- Print News Writing

TIPA Rules
Print News Writing
Writing deadline is one hour.

Contestants may cover a news event, witness a situation, view an activity (event, situation or
activity may be live or a video presentation) and/or work from documents and related materials.

Criteria: Lead, story organization, fairness and balance, use of quotes, identification and attribution, accuracy, readability of story, length (not wordy), timeliness, style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.

Materials needed : Writing contests may be on either computer (laptop or portable computer with USB) or hand written in blue or black ink. Contestants may use tape recorders with earphones only. Contestants must provide note pad and writing instrument for taking notes. AP Stylebooks, thesaurus and dictionaries may be used.

TIPA 2009 Winning Entries

1st Place
Print News Writing
By Eric Nicholson
UTDallas

Vice Mayor Belinda Cooley today outlined plans to expand the regulatory authority of the federal government over print and broadcast media.
In a heated press convergent to college journalists at the Texas International Press Association (TIPA) print news competition, Cooley proposed a system to license journalists through the FCC board on education, training and a certification test.
“A truly free press can only exist if you have people who are qualified and practice in a responsible manner,” Cooley said.
She did not address specific requirements, but said the government must intervene to ensure the credibility of journalists with the proliferation of blogs and other new forms of media.
Many in the audience voiced opposition to the proposal. A woman from Texas Wesleyan University called the proposal “outrageous,” and said ti would be a violation of First Amendment protection of the press.
“I don’t think (Cooley) did much research if she thinks journalism is inaccurate or a threat to society,” she said.
The woman said she supports so‐called “shield laws” to protect journalists from legal action to force them to reveal information about sources. Cooley said such protection would be unfair to average citizens.
“It’s a terrible thing that (journalists) receive special rights when the people of the United States don’t receive the same rights,” Cooley said.
The woman from Texas Wesleyan University said greater control of the press by the federal government will limit the rights of the average citizen.
“The press should be protected so they can protect the people from the government,” she said.


2nd Place
Print News Writing
By Matt Goodman
University of North Texas

Dallas Vice Mayor Belinda Cooley held an impromptu press conference Wednesday afternoon, calling for national and local licensing of journalists – and she has the support of Univision, she said.
The vice mayor said she has been in contact with both Dallas‐based Belo, which owns The Dallas Morning News and television channel WFAA, and Dallas‐based Univision, which runs a Spanish language television channel and radio station, and that Univision is “on board” concerning a test that would force potential journalists to pass it before being able to report. She did not say that any permanent measures to establish these had been created yet.
“This is what is important and what is best for our democracy,” she said.
In addition to the licensing of journalists, Cooley spoke out against Shield Laws, proposing that they be revoked within the Dallas city limits, should they ever be established.
Shield Laws protect journalists from revealing source information under oath and are in place in thirty‐four states and the District of Columbia. No Shield Law currently exists in Texas. Cooley said she called the conference in part to speak out against a federal Shield Law, which has been proposed at the national level.
“I am very much against that,” Cooley said.
But many members of the audience immediately questioned Cooley’s proposal, going so far to interrupt the vice mayor with cries of “outrageous!”
“It’s the First Amendment to the Constitution, it’s the first thing our forefathers decided,” said Nancy Moore, a First Amendment activist and journalism professor at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth.
But the regulation of journalists was much more divisive to the audience than Cooley’s rejection of Shield Laws, especially after Cooley suggested that Congress take after what she hoped Dallas would eventually establish. She said that a national law should be created that would force all potential journalists to pass a test written by the Federal Communication Commission before being allowed to report to “weed out” those without an education in journalism.
“Maybe the government knows better than these corporations,” she said.
Moore continued to vocalize her frustration with Cooley’s proposal numerous time during the speech, as did Dallas resident and Brookhaven broadcast journalism student Carla Davis.
“What exactly are you trying to regulate,” she asked.
When asked about regulation of the Internet, Cooley responded that the quality and education of bloggers is not the only thing she’s hoping to unify. Cooley said she hoped to establish a cohesive professionalism within journalism, claiming that the press has failed the nation and forced the public to shun the field.
“All journalism in my opinion is incredibly biased,” she said. “It’s not just one side or the other … it’s not just blogs.”
But Cooley was quick to reinforce that she “had no power to erect this” and refused to take additional questions before receiving a phone call and abruptly ending the press conference.
“Truly free press can only exist for people who report in a responsible manner,”
Cooley said.


3rd Place
Print News Writing
By Sharaya Sherrod
Texarkana College

First amendment rights were at the center of a verbal tug‐of‐war between Dallas’ vice mayor and about 70 visiting student journalists Thursday, as the city official proposed creating a license for journalists.
Before taking a cell phone call during the press conference and then leaving abruptly, Vice Mayor Belinda K. Cooley said she was not discarding the first amendment.
“I’m saying that maybe the government does know better than organizations, corporations, you people in the media. I mean who are you to tell me what I should think?” Cooley asked.
Students had the same question for the vice mayor, wanting to know who the government was to tell them what they should print or how that information should be gathered.
The licensing Cooley said she was proposing to the city, would implement a test to accredit working journalists before they could operate in their field. She said testing journalist‐hopefuls would turn out better writers, and better stories, ultimately leading to a better society.
“Informed citizenry is what we need for a really good government to function the way it’s supposed to function. We need people to vote, we need people to be active,” said Cooley.
Being informed is exactly what Cooley says she wants of those reporting the news, as well, saying that is the epitome of the first amendment.
“Do you really want to have people who are practicing journalists, who have not been schooled in journalism, who don’t know what they’re doing? I mean the whole idea of a free press is that you know what your talking about, right? And that your schooled in what you do,” said the vice mayor of three years.
Cooley said Univision is already in favor of the licensing that would also affect local corporations such as B‐Lowe and said that to enforcing the restrictions would be the job of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The FCC was originally created to police radio waves which the government deemed public domain.
“Is the internet not public domain?” she asked.
Further tightening the reigns may be just the thing to do, Cooley suggested.
“In the world today, control of the media may actually be a good thing, not necessarily a bad thing,” said Cooley, who also pointed out that the licensing practice is common in other countries.
Cooley also referred to shield laws that have been in place to protect journalists and to give them somewhat exclusive access to do their jobs. With the new administration in the White House, Cooley says dealings with the media have loosened where she says they may need to be tightened.
“The shield laws that are in place exclude other people, and it’s a terrible thing that you receive special rights when the people of the United States don’t receive the same rights. I’m talking about the rights of people, who are just your average people, to inquire, to attend, to be there, to be protected if the write something‐‐bloggers for instance,” the Lakewood resident said.
Yet, Cooley also appears to want to protect the news industry, as well, saying that the licensing may rescue a dying breed of communication.
“You people are failing because you’re not doing what your supposed to do…Let’s see. How many bankruptcies have there been in the past year, how many people are reading you newspapers? And the figures are there folks. People are not reading what you have to say because your not relevant,” said Cooley.
But reporters said they were wondering how guarding the industry or controlling the press was a relevant issue of the city’s.
Cooley said it all came down to the information being delivered to the people and how that information has and will shape public opinion‐‐something she says she wants to be shaped accurately and according to government standards.
“When you have a variety of voices who are out there talking, who do we believe? We believe the person who shouts the loudest,” she said.
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