enough about conflict of interest, let's see some APSE results!

Don't forget the Under-5 FTE.

 

Didn't see this one posted yet (and believe me, I would've noticed if it had been)...

UNDER 40,000: GAME STORY
Elyria Chronicle-Telegram: Kevin Aprile
Santa Fe New Mexican: James Barron
Albany Herald: Paul Dehner Jr.
Tucson Citizen: Anthony Gimino
Lorain (Ohio) Morning Journal: Matt Goul
Glen Falls Post-Star: Tim McManus
Hamilton Journal News: Jay Morrison
Northwest Herald: Nick Pietruszkiewicz
Olean Times Herald: Chuck Pollock
Northwest Herald: Joe Stevenson

Congrats to all.

 

How many newspapers are in the 40-100K?

 

Shot: Mile High posted the figures earlier on the thread

 

Like someone else pointed out.... if being top 10 only ensures you of being in the 71st percentile, then more papers need to be added to the mix.

What a farce that larger category is.

 

By "won", do you mean Top 10?

 

No, top 20.

 

As it concerns under 40K (and, actually, any of the divisions): Don't confuse number of entries/entrants with quality of competition. In my experience with judging, yes, there are fewer entries in the over 250K, but each entry is lights-out. Seriously good material. Also, in my experience, the same can't be said about the under-40. Yes, there are more entries in the under-40K, but half (and this year, more than that) could be tossed almost immediately. Just keeping it real here.

Second, going to an earlier point someone made, it's not the over 250s who are afraid of the competition. It's the slender group of 175-250 who don't want to go against the over 250s. Let's be crystal clear on that point. In every single one of the proposed new divisions, it's the smaller papers that would be bumped up who are complaining the most.

And for the record, I have no dog in this hunt. My paper is neither over 250 or under 40 and would not have been affected by any of the changes.

 

If every entry impresses you, revise your standards. Sorry, but when all but four sections win a section award, the awards are meaningless.

Couldn't the over-250s and the rest outvote that "slender group of 175-250K?"

Seriously, it's a joke. You have papers that call themselves major metros every day but contest days. Can you imagine what some of those editors would say if you called them a nice little Class AAA paper? Cheap awards.

 

My paper is a 90,000 circulation, and I was in favor of the circulation category changes. This probably would have hurt my paper's chances of winning a section award, but that's not the issue here. The issue here is getting more smaller papers to join APSE, and I think some would do that if they had a chance to win a section award in the contest.

 

No, they couldn't out-vote that group or any other group. The vote was not open to full membership.

As for every entry "impressing" me, that's not my point. The point is, the gap in quality is much smaller than it is for the smaller categories. Also, so what if all but four won a top 20 in sections? Only one managed a triple crown, I believe. The fact that 30 placed proved just how close these papers are in quality.

That said, I'm with everyone who was for the change in classifications. My shop flat-out whipped shops twice our size in our division and I know there would be smaller papers moving up that could probably do the same to us.