Cost: $5 per entry Entries are limited to three per category per staff.
For 2026, entries must have been published between February 1, 2025 and January 15, 2026
Each media staff that enters the contest must be a current SIPA member. For example, if the school newspaper is a SIPA member and that same school’s yearbook wants to enter in the writing contest, the yearbook must join SIPA as well. Memberships are by media and not by school or adviser.You may renew your membership if needed here. If you are unsure of your present membership status, please contact Amy Smedberg at [email protected].
SIPA’s Best Media entries are judged holistically with both the visual and verbal elements considered as well as the way those elements relate to and support each other.
Literary magazines – If your magazine is published once a year and students have not created new designs for this year’s publication, you may submit designs from the 2024-25 edition, as long as those designs were not entered in the 2025 SIPA’s Best Visuals competition. Media may enter either News Magazine or Newspaper categories, not both. Entries in the Online categories should not have appeared in print.
Entries will be disqualified if they do not meet the established criteria.
Awards will be presented during the closing ceremony Sunday morning at the SIPA convention, and winners will be posted online after the convention. Email [email protected] with any questions.
Entries to SIPA’s Best Media Contest will be submitted using the BetterBNC Media Awards Platform. Below are directions for preparing and submitting entries.
