A. Awards Categories
- Best Edited Community Newspaper – for excellence in newswriting and editing. The newswriter must demonstrate a high level of consistency in its quality of writing and reporting of the news.
- Best in Business and Economic Reporting – for excellence in the coverage and reporting of local business and economic events. The newspaper must demonstrate regularity in its coverage and frequency of in-depth reporting of economic activities in the community.
- Best in Science and Environmental Reporting – for excellence in news and features about the environment. The newspaper must demonstrate regularity and effectiveness in the reporting of news and issues affecting the environment.
- Best in Photojournalism – for excellence in news coverage of community life in pictures. The newspaper must demonstrate creative ability to depict human interest subjects in pictures to enhance the newspaper without resorting to portrayal of sex and violence.
- Best Editorial Page (special award)
The Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE) Foundation shall serve as the Awards Secretariat. It shall coordinate all the activities to be carried out in line with the Awards, provide technical assistance and facilitate the activities of the national steering committee.
C. National Steering Committee
Composing the Steering Committee shall be: one representative of the Philippine Press Institute (PPI), one representative of PACE Foundation and the Awards Program Coordinator.
Specifically, the Steering Committee shall:
- Set the criteria for the selection of winners for all the categories. This shall also include the set of criteria to be used by the regional screening committees in choosing the regional nominees who will then be considered as finalists;
- Set the procedures and implementing guidelines of the Awards;
- Mobilize the resource support (trophies, plaques, and other financial requirements)
- Identify and invite members of the National Board of Judges;
- Review documents pertaining to the regional nominees that will be submitted to the Board of Judges.
The Regional Screening Committee is composed of three academicians from communication schools – one for each island-region: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The functions of the regional screening committee are:
- Monitor community newspaper published in the regions under their jurisdiction who are qualified to participate in the Awards;
- Screen and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the publications;
- Select one nominee for each Awards category to be submitted to the National Board of Judges through the National Secretariat.
The five-man Board of Judges shall be composed of prominent journalists (both national and community media), and communication professors/scholars, educators.
F. Search Guidelines
- The search for the outstanding community newspaper is open to PPI-affiliated community newspaper only.
- Publicity will be handled by the PPI and PACE Foundation.
- PPI will require members to submit issues published from January to December of each year to their regional screening committee on or before January 10 the following year. Twenty-four issues a year (three copies per issue; two issues of their choice per month) will be required.
- The regional screening committee will screen the publications. The committee will use the criteria set by the national screening committee.
- The regional screening committee will submit regional winners to the national secretariat. The list of winners should include all pertinent documents – copies of the winning publications, score sheets, etc.
- The national secretariat selects and convenes the National Board of Judges.
- The decisions of the Board of Judges are final and not subject to appeal.
