The MDDC Contest recognizes excellence in news media organizations of Maryland, Delaware and DC. Contest categories focus on editorial, design and revenue, plus special awards for standout personnel, Freedom of Information coverage, Courage in Journalism, Best Moves, and News Organization of the Year.
The MDDC Contest recognizes excellence in news media organizations of Maryland, Delaware and DC. Contest categories focus on editorial, design and revenue, plus special awards for standout personnel, Freedom of Information coverage, Courage in Journalism, Best Moves, and News Organization of the Year.
Download the full contest packet, which includes a listing of all categories in the contest.
Ready to enter? Go straight to the contest portal. By entering the contest, each news organization or individual certifies the originality of all submitted entries.
Deadline for Entries
Contest is open now through February 3, 2023. All entries must be uploaded to the contest portal.
BNC Website Password
Contest manager profiles, including passwords, have been carried over from last year’s contest. New to the contest or need help? Contact Sam Savage for help.
Eligibility & Contest Rules
The contest is open to staff members and freelancers of active members. Freelancers must enter through or with the permission of the publications they write for. Members of MD, DE & DC chapters of SPJ may enter editorial categories only. Click for full Contest Rules.
Categories
The contest has three divisions with 66 total categories and three special awards. The Wild Card category for 2022, which changes each year, is Local Election Coverage. Click for the full category listing and descriptions.
Judging
The entries will be judged by newspaper professionals from the the Louisiana Press Association. We will be judging their contest in 2023.
Awards
The 2022 MDDC Contest awards will be presented at the MDDC Annual Conference and Celebration May 5, 2023. Certificates in each division will be presented to first and second place winners. One Best of Show award is presented in each category. The News Organization of the Year award is presented to the news organization in each circulation division that accumulates the most points in the contest across all categories. First place earns three points and second place earns two points. In a tie, the number of first place wins will be the determining factor.
Help support this event through your sponsorship, or by placing an ad in the Awards publication. Contact Rebecca Snyder for details.
Fees
The fee is $15 per entry. Entry fees may be made online in the contest portal, by credit card, or by check, payable to MDDC Press Association and mailed to P.O. Box 26214, Baltimore, MD 21210.
Contest Divisions
Circulation divisions for the contest are based on each news organization’s print circulation, as reported to MDDC for dues. (These are called categories within the BNC website platform.)
Design & Revenue divisions:
- Division A: Daily print
- Division B: Non-daily print
- Division C: Online-only
Editorial divisions:
- Division A: Dailies over 75,000 circulation
- Division B: Dailies from 20,000 to 75,000
- Division C: Dailies under 20,000
- Division D: Non-dailies over 20,000
- Division E: Non-dailies from 10,000 to 20,000
- Division F: Non-dailies under 10,000
- Division O: Online only publications
- Division S: SPJ-MD, SPJ-DE or SPJ-DC members only (eligible for Editorial categories only)
Previous Winners
See our Awards page for previous years’ winners.