WELCOME TO THE 2025 DPA PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS CONTEST
Scroll down to AWARD WINNERS to see 2024 DPA State and National Contest Results
The annual Delaware Press Association Communications Contest, open to all professional communicators in Delaware and nearby out-of-state communities, encourages and rewards excellence in communication. Judged by out-of-state communications professionals to ensure impartiality, the contest provides an opportunity to compete in various print or electronic broadcasting fields. All DPA contest winners are presented with award certificates and judge commentary at the DPA Annual Meeting and Contest Awards Banquet each spring.
The annual contest is two-tiered. The first tier of the contest is the statewide DPA competition. The second tier is the national competition, run by the National Federation of Press Women. All first-place winners in the DPA Contest who also are members of NFPW by March 25 are eligible for entry into the national competition.
DPA Contest Director: Katherine Ward Contact: 302-655-2175 | DelawarePress@aol.com
Please read “Rules and Guidelines” and “How to Create an Account & Enter the Contest” below before clicking either of these links to access the contest site.
The first time you enter the contest, follow these steps when using the link below to access the contest site to create a contest account.
Enter 2025 Contest (create Account if you don't have one)
To get a username and password, begin by creating your account with the “Login or Create an Account” page.
- Enter your name and contact information in the “Create a New Account” form on the right side of the page. Please do NOT use all caps.
- Your email address will become your username.
- Create your password at the end of the form. Choose something simple and easy to remember.
- Click Register. The next page, a replica of the contact details you submitted, provides one more field for your phone number. Please add your preferred number.
- Once you have an established account, use the link below thereafter to access the contest.
Note: If you set up a contest account in a previous year, use the link below instead.
After creating a contest account, use this “Established DPA Contest Account” link to access the DPA Contest entry site. Note: If the NFPW logo appears on the Welcome page instead of DPA’s, click “Find your Competition” at the top of the page, then click on “Delaware Press Association” to access the Delaware contest page.
Eligibility
DPA Contest: The annual DPA Communications Contest is open to all professional communicators in the state of Delaware and nearby out-of-state communities. Although you do not have to be a DPA member to enter the contest, we appreciate the decision to support us through membership. Note that contest entry fees are less for members than for non-members. Winners will be notified in April.
Select your best work published or broadcast between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024. The governing date is the date printed on the publication, the date e-published, or the date the broadcast was aired. If the entry is a series, use the publication or broadcast date of the final article as the entry date, which allows the beginning article to have been published in the previous contest year.
National Contest: First-place award winners in the 2025 DPA Communications Contest will be eligible to enter the National Federation of Press Women national competition if member dues of $110 ($90 national, $20 state) are received at NFPW Headquarters by March 25, 2025.
Contest Deadlines
Early bird: The early-bird deadline is NOON, January 29, 2025.
Submit your entries by noon to avoid the one-time $25 late fee.
Late for the worm:
-
- All BOOK entries must be submitted by NOON, February 5, 2025.
- All other entries must be submitted by NOON, February 19, 2025.
- All BOOK entries must be submitted by NOON, February 5, 2025.
Fees
Members: $20 for the first entry; $10 discount fee for subsequent entries.
Non-members: $25 for the first entry; $15 discount fee for subsequent entries.
College students: $5 per entry.
Late Fee: $25 fee added only to the first entry submitted after NOON on January 29, 2025.
When you have submitted your entries, you may SAVE and logout without paying if you plan to submit more entries later on. If you submit more than one entry, all other entries will be charged at the discount rate.
Payment: When all entries are in the cart and you go to checkout, choose Pay by credit card. The pay-by-check option is for high school advisers only.
Your entries will not be official until they have been paid for.
Note: All DPA members paid through the end of 2024, or who have renewed for 2025, may enter at the member rate. If you are uncertain, contact delawarepress@aol.com.
Membership Forms
To join or to renew your DPA or your NFPW/DPA membership, please fill out and submit a membership application as directed on the form you select below.
DPA ONLY: JOIN OR RENEW BY CREDIT CARD OR BY CHECK
NFPW/DPA: Join or renew by credit card only
Note: DPA dues remain at $20 (student dues are $5). NFPW professional dues are $90 (NFPW student dues are $25). If you already paid 2025 DPA dues and want to pay 2025 NFPW dues only, check the box before “Delaware” on the NFPW membership dues page, click “add to cart,” go to the cart and click “Remove” or the minus sign to remove the charge for DPA dues.
TO GET THE LIST OF ALL CONTEST CATEGORIES & REQUIREMENTS, CLICK THE TEAL BAR BELOW.
DPA CONTEST DIVISIONS AND CATEGORIES
The annual DPA Communications Contest provides an opportunity to compete in a broad range of categories. For the 2025 contest, entries must have been published or broadcast between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2024.
Read the category descriptors carefully.
LIST OF ALL CONTEST DIVISIONS / CATEGORIES
CLICK HERE for 2025 COMMUNICATIONS CONTEST DIVISIONS and CATEGORIES
INDIVIDUAL CONTEST DIVISIONS
- Writing, including Book Categories (Categories 1-17)
- Editing (Categories 18-20)
- Photography (Categories 21-23)
- Graphics and Design (Categories 24-26)
- Radio and Television (Categories 27-32)
- Web and Social Media (Categories 33-41)
- Advertising (Categories 42-45)
- Communications Programs and Campaigns (Categories 46-50)
- Public Relations Materials (Categories 51-53)
- Information for the Media (Categories 54-56)
- Speeches (Category 57)
- Collegiate/Education (Categories 58-63)
FOR “HOW TO PREPARE YOUR CONTEST ENTRIES,” CLICK THE TEAL BAR BELOW.
PREPARING YOUR ENTRIES
Decide on the work you will enter in the contest and identify the division and category in which each work sample will be entered. Read the category descriptors carefully for each category you plan to enter; also read what Judges Will Consider to assess whether your work will meet those criteria.
TIP to make entering a snap if you have more than one or two entries (optional):
1) Before submitting your entries, create a 2025 COMMUNICATIONS CONTEST folder on your hard drive.
2) Find each file you will need for the categories you plan to enter, including supporting documents if called for, and any one-page statements.
3) Save each file to the new folder. If you will enter a category in which your work appears online and you must submit several samples, put the URLs for those articles in a file (e.g., 2025 Contest URLs.docx) in the contest folder, then you can open the file to copy and paste the URLs, one at a time, into the fields for URLs.
4) Once you begin the entry process and have uploaded the first file from the contest folder, you will be taken directly to that folder each time you click the Browse button during that entry session.
ENTER THE CONTEST
After you have set up an account, anytime you login via the entry link on this website, you will see the DPA logo at the top of the Delaware Contest page. Click ENTER THE PROFESSIONAL CONTEST. Note: If the NFPW logo appears on the Welcome page instead of DPA’s, click “Find your Competition” at the top of the page, then click on “Delaware Press Association” to access the Delaware contest page.
1. Choose My Profile on the left side of the page, enter the requested information and SAVE. In the “Current Membership Status” field, choose “Member” IF you were a 2024 member of DPA or have paid 2025 dues. If not sure, before you choose, contact delawarepress@aol.com.
If you already have submitted one or more entries, you can review, edit, or complete any of them by choosing Click here to review your past Submission(s).
THE CONTEST ENTRY FORM
Page 1 – ENTRANT Information
- Your Contact Information: Type in your name and contact information. If you are the entrant (the person who created the entry), click the little check box at the top of the next section, and your name and other information automatically will populate the Entrant Details form below.
- Entrant Details: If you are entering for another person, a) do NOT check the box “The entrant is the same as the submitter,” and b) you must provide the name and other required information (indicated by red asterisks) about the entrant. The email address you provide in the “Entrant Details” section must be the entrant’s email address and phone number, not yours.
- Co-entrants: At the end of the first page you will be required to choose Yes if there are co-entrants or No if there are none. If Yes, you will get a brief form to fill in with co-entrant name(s) and email address(es).
- SAVE. If you are ready to submit the work sample, choose SAVE and NEXT.
Page 2 – ENTRY Information
- Category. Review the divisions and categories information either on this website or from the contest category page.
Click the drop-down box to select the division (writing, photography, speech, etc.)
Click the next drop-down box to select the category within that division. - Title. Type the title of the entry (separate titles with a semicolon if more than one work sample is required) in the next field.
Fill in the rest of the required entry details.
Note whether your category requires a one-page statement. If so, you must submit one and upload it in that section. - Uploads or URLs. Though required to choose to upload work sample(s) or to furnish URLs, you can provide both regardless of the choice. Uploads will be visible. Links will appear below the field in which a URL is typed or pasted (and you’ve hit Enter) so entrant may verify the link is working properly.
- SAVE and add any other entries, or choose SAVE and Add to Cart either to Review or to Check out.
Page 3 – Review and Checkout
- Click Review and Checkout to look at the details provided about all entries, including each entry title and ID #.
- Click Make changes to return to an entry to review details or to make changes. Click the small Select link in the upper right corner of the entry.
- Click Add Another Entry if you have other work to submit.
- Click Checkout when all work has been submitted and you are ready to pay for your entries.
Page 4 – Checkout and Payment (entries are not official until paid for)
- Payment: Choose the second option only: Pay by Credit Card.
- Process: Fill out the credit card form and click Process. If you decide to submit more work at a later time or to make changes to an entry, you may go back into the contest anytime before the final deadline: February 19 (February 5 for books), 2025.
- Log Out: To do so, click Log Out on the left side of the screen.
Note: When you have submitted your entries, you may SAVE and log out without paying if you plan to submit more entries later on. When all entries are in the cart, go to Checkout, pay by credit card, and log out (left side of page).
• • •
Click this link to go directly to the DPA contest site to login and submit entries.
CLICK TO LOGIN AND ENTER THE DPA 2025 COMMUNICATIONS CONTEST
Call or write anytime you have a question or need help.
Please furnish email address, phone number, category, entry title and ID#.
Contest Director, Katherine Ward: 302-655-2175 or delawarepress@aol.com
You also will find this contact information on the Delaware Press Association page
of the contest site as well as at the top of this page.
Check out the winners of the statewide DPA communications contest:
- 2024 DPA Winners
- 2023 DPA Winners
- 2022 DPA Winners
- 2021 DPA Winners
- 2020 DPA Winners
- 2019 DPA Winners
- 2018 DPA Winners
- 2017 DPA Winners
NFPW Contest Winners
DPA members who received national awards in the NFPW Communications Contest:
- 2024 NFPW Winners
- 2023 NFPW Winners
- 2022 NFPW Winners
- 2021 NFPW Winners
- 2020 NFPW Winners
- 2019 NFPW Winners
- 2017 NFPW Winners
- 2016 NFPW Winners
Sweepstakes Winners
Cash prizes are awarded to those who receive the greatest number of points in the DPA communications contest sweepstakes competition. Each winning entry receives a certain number of points (e.g., 1st place = 4, 2nd place = 3, 3rd place = 2, HM = 1), with additional points given when the number of entries in the category exceeds five or an increment of five. The entrant accumulating the greatest number of points will receive the 1st prize of $250; 2nd prize $150; 3rd prize, $100.
The state affiliate with the highest number of points in the NFPW national competition receives $250.
The 2024 DPA Sweepstakes winners
1st prize – Cris Barrish: Investigative Reporter, WHYY-TV
2nd prize – Stacy Tillilie: Editor/Writer, AAA World
3rd prize (tie) – Connie Connolly: Community Editor, The Star Democrat/Times Record
3rd prize (tie) – Seth Katzen: President/CEO, Jewish Federation of Delaware
The 2024 NFPW Affiliate Sweepstakes winner
Delaware Press Association
On June 22, 2024, DPA received the NFPW National Communications Contest Affiliate Sweepstakes Award for the 14th time in the last 20 years.
2025 FIRST STATE HIGH SCHOOL COMMUNICATIONS CONTEST
Scroll down to HS Contest Award Winners to see the 2024 DPA First State High School Contest Results
Delaware Press Association offers an annual statewide High School Communications Contest for student journalists / communicators, with an opportunity for first-place winners in the DPA contest to enter the NFPW national competition. From time to time we offer seminars and workshops for high school journalists and their advisers, focusing on issues such as ethics and editorial responsibility, the new technology, and First Amendment rights and responsibilities. We believe it is vital to support these bright young future communicators and citizens, and we treat them as professional colleagues.
DPA HS Contest Director: Lydia Timmins Contact: 302-521-4784; Lydiat@udel.edu
Please read the Rules, Guidelines, and How-to-enter information below
before clicking either link below to access the contest site.
CREATE DPA FIRST STATE HS COMMUNICATIONS CONTEST ACCOUNT
The first time you go to the contest site, the HS Adviser will use the link above to create a contest account. Note: If you set up a contest account in a previous year, use the link below instead.
Where you see “Click here to register, if you don’t already have a username/password,” click “here,” enter your email address (which will become your username) in the “New Users” section, click Register, and retrieve an email from NFPW for creating your password. Once you have established the account, thereafter use the link below to access the contest.
CREATE CONTEST ACCOUNT AND ENTER THE DPA HS COMMUNICATIONS CONTEST
Anytime after creating the Contest Account, use this link to go directly to the DPA HS Contest entry site and choose the large indigo button: Enter the High School Contest. Note: If the NFPW logo appears on the Welcome page instead of DPA’s, click “Find your Competition” at the top of the page, then click on “Delaware Press Association” to access the Delaware contest page.
RULES and GUIDELINES
Delaware Press Association hosts the annual First State High School Communications Contest for both public and private schools throughout the State of Delaware. All entries must be the work of high school students and must have been published between February 1, 2024, and January 31, 2025.
Professional journalists and communications specialists serve as contest judges. First, second, and third place and honorable mention are awarded. The first-place entry in each category of the DPA First State Contest is advanced to the national competition.The first-place winner in each category of the national competition advances to a third round of judging; a panel of three judges selects a “Best of the Best” winner from among the national first-place-winning entries.
An awards ceremony takes place in Delaware each spring to honor the First State High School Contest winners and their advisers. All of the national winners will be announced during a Zoom ceremony in May and further honored at a luncheon on Saturday, June 22, 2024, in St. Louis. A cash prize of $500 is divided between the “Best of the Best” winner and the student’s high school journalism/communications program.
Deadline: All entries must be submitted by Wednesday, February 7, 2024.
Eligibility: All 2023 state and national entries must have been published, e-published, broadcast or issued between February 1, 2023, and January 31, 2024.
Categories: Students may enter any of the 23 categories and may submit work in more than one category. You may access all categories here or, when submitting the entries, from the contest site.
ACCESS ALL CATEGORIES AND CATEGORY DESCRIPTORS
Entry Fee: The per-entry fee is $3.00.
HOW TO ENTER THE CONTEST
Decide on the work to be entered and identify the category in which each work sample will be submitted. Be SURE the entry was published between Feb. 1, 2024, and Jan. 31, 202544. Use the Categories link above to read the descriptor for each category to be entered to assess whether the work meets that set of criteria.
As detailed above:
Use the first contest entry link at the top or at the end of the HS Contest page to create an account. If you set up a contest account in a previous year, use the second link.
Use the second contest entry-form link after the account has been created to go directly to the Delaware Contest page (DPA logo at the top).
NOTE: Because we share the contest site with the other NFPW affiliates, the NFPW logo appears on the Welcome page if the contest is accessed through the NFPW website. If you see the NFPW logo, click “Find your Competition” at the top of the page, then click on Delaware Press Association to access the Delaware contest page.
Page 1
CREATE ACCOUNT and LOGIN
- Account: The high school ADVISER will fill in the Account Profile (left side of the page).
- Type in adviser name and contact information. When asked for member status, choose Member. At the end of the form, create an easy-to-remember password for all of your students to use. SAVE.
- Login: Thereafter, to access the high school contest, the adviser OR the students will type in the adviser’s email address and the password the adviser created.
- Setting up a student entry: Login and choose “Click here to create a new submission.” The adviser profile information always must appear at the top of the page. Advisers only may change any of that information. Scroll down to ENTRANT DETAILS.
a) Do NOT check the box that says the entrant is the same as the submitter.
b) Fill in the name and required information of the entrant – the student who created the work to be submitted into the contest. When asked for member status, choose Student. - Co-entrants: At the end of the page, choose Yes if there are co-entrants or No if not. If Yes, a form will be provided to fill in with co-entrant name(s) and email address(es). SAVE.
- Submit the entry: If ready to enter the work sample, choose SAVE and NEXT.
- Returning to contest at a later date: If entrant saves initial work but does not complete all entries before logging out, on re-entry, look for My Applications in the box on the left side of the screen to choose
a) In Progress: Use the small blue Edit link to continue work on that entry.
b) In Cart: Review entries, or use the Select link to retrieve an entry to make changes.
Page 2
CATEGORY CHOICE, ENTRY DETAILS, FILE UPLOADS/URLS
- Category: Review category information here or from the contest site.
Click the (select) dropdown box to choose the category.
Choose WRITING for categories 1 – 7:
1. Editorial, 2.Opinion, 3. News Story, 4. Feature Story, 5. Sports Story, 6. Columns or Blogs, 7. Review.
Choose NEWS for categories 8 – 13. When you see “Visual” in the next field, click the arrow to choose:
8. News or feature photo, 9. Sports photo, 10. Cartooning, 11. Graphics/Photo Illustration, 12. Single-page layout; 13. Double-truck layout.
Choose ENVIRONMENT for category 14:
14. Environment.
Choose BROADCAST or VIDEO for categories 15 – 20:
15. Radio prepared report, 16. Radio / Television Interview or Talk Show, 17. Best Newscast, 18. Video news story, 19. Video Feature story, 20. Video sports story.
Choose YEARBOOK for categories 21 – 23:
21. Yearbook layout, 22. Yearbook photo, 23. Yearbook copywriting. - Title: Type the title of the entry in the next field. Fill in the rest of the required entry details.
- Uploads or URLs. Though required to choose to upload work sample(s) or furnish URL(s), either can be provided regardless of the choice. Any uploaded page(s) will be visible. A link will appear below the field in which a URL is typed or pasted so the entrant may verify it is working properly.
- SAVE or choose Add to Cart either to “Review” or to “Make Another Submission.”
Page 3
REVIEW AND CHECKOUT
- Review: Look at the details provided about all entries, including each entry title and entry ID #.
- Make changes: To return to an entry to review details or make changes, click the small Select link in the upper right corner of the entry.
- Add Another Entry: Click if there is other work to submit.
- Checkout: ADVISERS ONLY. At the bottom of the page, click Checkout to pay for student entries when all work has been submitted.
Page 4
PAYMENT
- Payment: At the top of Checkout page, advisers will see “Total amount due” for all entries submitted to date and, beneath it, the two payment options. Choose the first option, Pay by Check, only.
- Process:A single check, made payable to: Delaware Press Association, should be written by the high school adviser for all entries from his/her school and mailed to DPA’s contest director:
Dr. Lydia Timmins | 373 West Chestnut Hill Road | Newark, DE 19713
If more work is submitted thereafter, entrants may return to the contest anytime before the final February 7, 2023, deadline. Mail a check for any additional entries. - Logout: Determine whether, during this session, you wish to submit other entries or review those previously submitted. If not, in the box on the left side of the page, click Log Out.
Click the first link below to create a Contest Account and access the contest site.
CREATE CONTEST ACCOUNT AND ENTER THE 2023 DPA HS COMMUNICATIONS CONTEST
Click the link below to go directly to the HS contest entry form.
ACCESS THE 2023 DPA FIRST STATE HS COMMUNICATIONS CONTEST ENTRY FORM
Call or write anytime you have a question or need help:
DPA HS Contest Director, Lydia Timmins: 302-531-4784 or lydiat@udel.edu.
OR
Contest Consultant, Katherine Ward: 302-655-2175 or DelawarePress@aol.com.
Delaware High School Communications Contest Winners
Winners of the statewide DPA First State HS Communications Contest:
Delaware winners of the NFPW National HS Communications Contest
Communicator of Achievement Award
The annual Communicator of Achievement Award is the highest honor DPA bestows on its members. First and foremost, the COA Award is given for a lifetime of achievement in the communications profession. And second, it recognizes exemplary service to the community and to humanity as well as to the profession, especially to Delaware Press Association and the National Federation of Press Women.
The DPA COA competes annually in the NFPW COA contest for the honor of being chosen the National Communicator of Achievement. DPA members have done well:
National Winners
- Billie Travalini, DPA’s 2018 COA, received NFPW’s highest honor when named the NFPW National Communicator of Achievement at the national conference in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Read the press release on Billie and her accomplishments.
- At the 2011, conference in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Beth Miller, of Wilmington, DPA president from 2006 – 2008, received the NFPW National COA honor. Click here to see a video of the interview with Beth on having won one of NFPW’s highest awards.
- DPA’s 2002 COA Kay Wood Bailey of Wyoming, Del., was named National COA at the NFPW Communications Conference in Bismarck, N.D., in September 2002.
National Runners-up
- John Watson received the National Runner-up award in 2014.
- Rita K. Farrell was named the National Runner-up in 2004.
Roxane Ferguson, COA Director
roxaneferguson@verizon.net
DPA COMMUNICATOR OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
The annual Communicator of Achievement Award is the highest honor DPA bestows on its members. First and foremost, the COA Award is given for a lifetime of achievement in the communications profession. And second, it recognizes exemplary service to the community and to humanity as well as to the profession, especially to Delaware Press Association and the National Federation of Press Women.
The award is presented at the annual DPA Holiday Luncheon, held on the first or second Saturday of December. Charter member Gloria Galloway, former executive editor of two newspapers in New Hampshire, was named the first-ever DPA Communicator of Achievement. NFPW president Ruth Anna, of Colorado, presented the 1996 COA award to Gloria for a distinguished 50-year career in journalism.
DPA Communicator of Achievement Award Winners
- Roxane E. A. Ferguson, 2020-2021 COA
- Billie E. Travalini, 2018 COA
- Kim R. Burdick, 2017 COA
- Mark A. Fowser, 2016 COA
- Tracey L. Bryant, 2015 COA
- John E. Watson, 2014 COA
- Maria Hess, 2013 COA
- Chris Carl, 2012 COA
- Beth Miller, 2011 COA
- Theresa Gawlas Medoff, 2010 COA
- Ralph J. Begleiter, 2009 COA
- Barbara C. Roewe, 2008 COA
- Katherine S. Ward, 2007 COA
- Karen Galanaugh, 2006 COA
- Lynn Troy Maniscalco, 2005 COA
- Rita Katz Farrell, 2004 COA
- Lise Monty, 2003 COA
- Kay Wood Bailey, 2002 COA
- Allan R. Loudell, 2001 COA
- Mary Louise Ponsell, 1999 –2000 COA
- Marion K. Rechsteiner, 1998 COA
- Sally Rinard, 1997 COA
- Gloria O. Galloway, 1996 COA
NFPW COMMUNICATOR OF ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Delaware Press Association’s COA competes in the annual NFPW COA contest for the honor of being chosen the National Communicator of Achievement. DPA’s 2002 COA Kay Wood Bailey, of Wyoming, Delaware, was chosen for the top national honor at the NFPW Communications Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota, in September 2002. Beth Miller, of Wilmington, received this same national honor at the NFPW Communications Conference in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in September 2011. And Billie Travalini, of Wilmington, was named the NFPW COA at the national conference in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in September 2018.
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