Accepting 2023 contest entries!

The Iowa Newspaper Association is excited to begin accepting entries for the 2023 Better Newspaper Contests. These contests, held annually, were developed to foster competition and quality among Iowa’s newspapers. To encourage participation, INA will again offer “coupons” for three free entries to newspapers who did not enter the 2022 contests. In addition, INA will offer incentives to newspapers who prepare their entries without error. See the contest timeline below for more information.

The deadline for entries is Friday, October 14, 2022. Entries must be submitted by Oct. 14 at 4:30 p.m. No exceptions or extensions will be made to the deadline. If your newspaper hasn’t begun selecting the items you want to submit, now is the time to start.

Entries will, again, be submitted electronically using the online entry submission tool at BetterNewspaperContest.com. For Total Newspaper Design, that requires complete issues as an entry, INA members may mail paper tearsheets of this category only. Entry information for hard copy entries in this category must still be submitted to the online contest tool and entry tags created from the online site.

Content published on digital platforms is eligible for entry in all categories except Total Newspaper Design. To enter digital content, provide a web link (URL) to the article/photo/ad, or a screenshot (in jpg format) of the material from when it was published. For categories such as Coverage of Education, Coverage of Business, etc., your entry can consist of a combination of print and digitally-published content. We ask that you chose five examples per category this year.

The Call for Entries and Entry Guide can be found at INAnews.com contains detailed, step-by-step instructions on using the online system, BetterNewspaperContest.com.

Members of the North Carolina Press Association will serve as judges of this year’s contest entries. 

Updates for 2023: All entries except Total Newspaper Design must be submitted digitally.

The weekly division class breakdown changes annually based on the current year’s contest participation. For the 2023 contests, classes will be: 

If you have questions during the contest entry preparation process, please contact the INA at 515-244-2145 or ina@inanews.com.