Delaware Press Association encourages and rewards excellence in communication by offering many opportunities for recognition and professional evaluation through contests and awards for both professionals and students.

WELCOME TO THE 2026 DPA PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS CONTEST

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

Entering the contest:

a) If you entered the contest in a previous year, you already have a contest account. Click the link below, enter your username and password in the fields on the LEFT side of the page and click LOGIN.
b) If entering for the first time, 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 and write down 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.

Entry Fees and Deadlines: After you have an account and login to the contest, you will see a page with 2 links at the top: Enter the Professional Contest and Enter the High School Contest. All entry fees and contest deadlines are listed below the links.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 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.

Before clicking the link to access your contest site, be sure to read “Rules and Guidelines” and “How to Create an Account & Enter the Contest” below.

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, 2025, and December 31, 2025. 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 21, 2026.
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 4, 2026.
    • All other entries must be submitted by NOON, February 18, 2026.

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 21, 2026.

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 2025, or who have renewed for 2026, 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 2026 DPA dues and want to pay 2026 NFPW dues only, check the “At-Large” box on the NFPW membership dues page ($0.00), and click “add to cart.”  Send a note to delawarepress@aol.com that you have paid NFPW dues through “At Large,” and your information will be moved to the Delaware page of the national membership directory.

TO GET THE LIST OF ALL CONTEST CATEGORIES & REQUIREMENTS,
CLICK THE TEAL BAR BELOW.

2026 FIRST STATE HIGH SCHOOL COMMUNICATIONS CONTEST

Delaware Press Association offers an annual statewide High School Communications Contest in which student communicators compete in various print or electronic broadcasting fields. All entries are judged by journalism and communications professionals. The First State contest winners are presented with award certificates and each contest entrant receives judge commentary. First-place winners in the DPA contest receive a $100 cash prize (to be shared by co-entrants), and also are eligible to enter the nationwide NFPW High School competition. We believe it is vital to support 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 the “Enter the Contest” link below to access the contest site.

If entering for the first time, the HS Adviser will create the contest account:

  • Click the large green “Enter the Contest” button below.
  • Choose the “Enter the High School Contest” link on the DPA Contest site.
  • Enter advisor name and contact information in the “Create a New Account” form on the RIGHT side of the page. Please do NOT use all caps.
  • At the end of the form, create an easy-to-remember password for all of your students to use.
  • Click REGISTER at the bottom of the page.
  • Before accessing the new account, be sure to read “Rules and Guidelines” and “How to Create an Account & Enter the Contest” below.

If you entered the contest in a previous year, you already have a contest account.

  • Begin by rereading “Rules and Guidelines” and “How to Create an Account & Enter the Contest” below.
  • Click the large green “Enter the Contest” button below.
  • Enter the adviser username and password in the fields on the LEFT side of the page
  • Click LOGIN to go directly to the DPA HS Contest entry site.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE 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.

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.