- Each university may submit two entries from two different students per competition. Photo entrants no longer have to be journalism majors to enter the photo competitions as long as they are attending a university with an ACEJMC accredited Journalism Program.
- Photo entrants who do not place in the top four of a photo competition are eligible to enter the remaining photo competitions.
- All photo entries must be appropriate to the competition in which they are submitted and must have been made by the entrant.
- One photograph from each entry must have been published during the time period designated to each competition.
- Entries may be submitted from newspapers, magazines, on-line media or Web sites.
- On-Line publication: A printed copy of an on-line entry, indicating name of campus or professional Web site and original date of posting, constitutes and entry.
- If the entry is from a professional publication, a statement from the editor of that publication must accompany the entry to verify that the photo was the work of the entrant.
- A tear sheet of the published photograph showing date of publication and full name of publication must accompany each entry. Photocopies are acceptable. (Does not apply to Photo III).
- Photos approved for a yearbook not yet published are also acceptable if accompanied by a letter from the department administrator verifying the photo's use in the publication.
- Entrants may include photos from more than one internship or part time job held during the calendar year.
- A photograph submitted once may not be submitted again in any other competition.
- Incomplete entries will not be accepted.
This competition is journalism. The content may not be altered digitally or in any other way beyond what is traditionally accpted in the darkroom. Computer generated composites must be labeled as computer illustrations. An exception is made for the "personal vision" category.
The following is permissible:
- Burning and dodging
- Changes in contrast and/or lightening or darkening a photo to improve reproduction.
- Correcting technical defects in a photo by cloning pixels to cover dust spots or erase line hits in transmissions.
- Minor color changes to correct color shifts and improve reproduction quality.
No removal or insertion of objects from the photo.
No cloning pixels to create a new image or add to an image.
No radical color changes.
The categories are:
Photojournalism Competition I - Portrait/Personality, Feature & "Personal Vision": All photos submitted must have been taken from September 1, 2008, through November 1, 2009, inclusively. Each entry must consist of two photographs in each category-Portrait/Personality and Feature-and one "Personal Vision"photo for a total of five photographs. The "Personal Vision" image may fall under the categories of (but is not limited to): pictorial, photo illustration, fine art photography, fashion photography, editorial photography, nature photography, architectural photography. Entries are sent on a CD or via email to photoawards@hearstfdn.org.
DEADLINE: Entries must be received in the Hearst Foundation office by Tuesday, November 10, 2009
*The top four winners from this competition are not eligible to compete in competitions II and III.
Photojournalism Competition II - News & Sports: All photos submitted must have been taken from September 1, 2008, through January 18, 2010, inclusively. Each entry must consist of two photographs in each category-Sports & News- for a total of four photographs. Entries are sent on a CD or via email to photoawards@hearstfdn.org.
DEADLINE: Entries must be received in the Hearst Foundation office by Wednesday, January 20, 2010
*The top four winners from this competition are not eligible to compete in competition III.
Photojournalism Competition III - Picture Story/Series - MULTIMEDIA: 
All photos submitted must have been taken from September 1, 2008, through March 5, 2010, inclusively. Each entry must consist of one picture story/series posted on the Web with at least two of the additional following components: audio, print, video, graphics. If entry was part of a multimedia project, include URL of website and indicate entrant's involvement in the project on the caption sheet. Include URL of entry and indicate entrant's involvement in the project on the disclosure form. Entries are sent as a link to the URL via email to photoawards@hearstfdn.org.
DEADLINE: Entries must be emailed by11:59 p.m. PST on Tuesday, March 10, 2009
A compete photojournalism entry consists of the following:
- A completed official Hearst Photojournalism entry blank, signed by the journalism administrator and student entrant.
- 4 copies of the official caption sheet.
- Photo I and Photo II: A CD with the entrant's scanned jpeg images. All entries should be 200 dpi resolution, with the longest dimension not exceeding 10 inches. Entrant name, university name, and category must be included with scanned images. Ex: JaneDoe_SchoolName_Sports_1.jpg. The images may also be sent via email to photoawards@hearstfdn.org.
- One of the photographs entered must have been published. A tear sheet (or copy) of this photo must accompany the entry. (Not necessary for Photo III).
- If the photo was published in an off campus publication, a statement from the editor is required verifying authorship of published photo.
- Photo III: Send the entry as an email to photoawards@hearstfdn.org. The body of the email should include entrant name, university name, name of Web site, posting date, project name, and the URL of the picture story. Subject line: Photo III entry, school name, entrant name. The entry blank and disclosure form can be attached as scanned PDF documents and emailed as attachments or sent separately via surface mail.
Judging
Photo entries are judged based on the following criteria:
- Photographic quality
- Visual story telling
- Versatility
- Consistency
- Human interest
- News Value
- Originality
- Editing
- Writing
- Reporting
- Audio and Video (photo III only)
- Graphics (photo III only)
- Navigation and Structure (photo III only)
- Design (photo III only)
