THE AWARD SEASON:
USC Annenberg Walker Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism
From Thanh T. T. Tan/ USC Research Assistant

WE’RE LOOKING FOR THE NATION’S BEST POLITICAL COVERAGE

If your political coverage is innovative, focused on the issues and candidates and informs your viewers about their electoral choices in a meaningful way, we invite you to enter the competition for the USC Annenberg Walker Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Journalism.

The USC Annenberg School for Communication, the Norman Lear Center and Reliable Resources for Broadcast Political Coverage sponsors the award to honor outstanding achievement in political coverage. The award recognizes creative meaningful coverage that helps viewers understand ballot issues, who the candidates are and what they stand for, as well as how viewers’ electoral choices will affect their lives.

Go to www.reliableresources.org for more information.

RULES:

Political coverage must have aired on a television station or network in the United States during the year 2002.

Each entry must be accompanied by an entry form and tape. Entry forms are available online at www.reliableresources.org. Entries must be on Beta tape. Please label both the tape and tape case with the station/company name, contact name, category and length of tape. Non-English language entries are encouraged.

A written presentation is required and should include a story log for each entry, detailing each news organization’s/individual’s political coverage efforts during the course of the 2002 campaign (national, state or local) and what made those efforts exceptional.

The fee for each entry is $75. Payment for entry fees should be made by check payable to the University of Southern California and must accompany the entry.

Send completed entry form, Beta tape, written presentation and fees by Dec. 15, 2002 to:
Reliable Resources, University of Southern California
3800 S. Figueroa, Suite 106, Los Angeles, CA 90037

CATEGORIES:
(see www.reliableresources.org for more details on these categories)

National Broadcast Television Network
National Cable Television
Network Station Group

Local Television/Public Broadcast Station
Local Cable News Station
Best Coverage of Money and Politics

JUDGING:

USC Annenberg journalism faculty and staff will screen the entries and forward their evaluations to a panel of journalism professionals and scholars. That panel will make the final judging decisions.

WINNER NOTIFICATION/PRESENTATION:

Award recipients will be notified in March 2003. The awards will be presented at a luncheon and symposium in April 8, 2003, during the RTNDA@NAB convention in Las Vegas.