Enter the SNPA Print Quality Contest

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Deadline to enter Print Quality Contest:

  • Monday, June 17 - daily papers (published in print four or more days a week)

The SNPA Print Quality Contest offers your newspaper the opportunity to receive a valuable print quality evaluation and – perhaps – also earn top honors for the outstanding work your press operators do.

For just $95, receive an evaluation of your print quality from three independent judges, and also be entered into SNPA's annual Print Quality Contest.  Additional newspapers printed in the same plant on the same press can be entered for just $50 each.

A group of three judges will independently and objectively score your newspaper for black ink density and uniformity, color ink density and uniformity, color register, page alignment, litho defects and other defects. Judges will not consider print defects such as nip marks on the edges of pages.

The front page of each section (not including classified), plus additional pages selected by the Print Quality Contest chairman (up to 20 total pages) will be scored. From these scores, a composite “Product Quality Rating” will be calculated and the top three newspapers in each circulation breakout will be recognized at the Joint SNPA-Inland Annual Meeting in Chicago, Ill., Oct. 6-8.

Awards:
First-, second- and third-place awards will be given for overall excellence in four circulation categories: under 25,000, 25,001-50,000, 50,001-100,000 and over 100,000.  The newspaper's circulation category is determined by the average circulation of all weekday editions.  Daily and non-daily newspapers will be judged together.

Marked newspapers and judges’ evaluation forms will be mailed to all participating newspapers by Oct. 29. The newspapers and forms will be mailed to the person listed on the contest entry form.

Important Contest Dates for Daily Papers (published in print 4 or more days a week):
June 17 - Official entry form must be received by SNPA
June 18 - Save 4 copies of main run
June 19 - Save 4 copies of main run
June 20 - Save 4 copies of main run
June 21 - Save 4 copies of main run
June 24 - SNPA will notify your newspaper of the date chosen for contest evaluation
June 28 - Four copies of the newspaper from the selected date must be received by SNPA. Please note: We will be asking you to ship your papers to an Alabama address.  That address will be provided when we give you the date selected.
Contest winners will be announced at the Annual Meeting in Chicago, Ill., Oct. 6-8.

Important Contest Dates for Non-Daily Papers (published in print 1-3 days a week):
June 3 - Official entry form must be received by SNPA
Week of June 3 - Save 4 copies of main run
Week of June 10 - Save 4 copies of main run
Week of June 17 - Save 4 copies of main run
June 24 - SNPA will notify your newspaper of the date chosen for contest evaluation
June 28 - Four copies of the newspaper from the selected date must be received by SNPA.  Please note: We will be asking you to ship your papers to an Alabama address.  That address will be provided when we give you the date selected.
Contest winners will be announced at the Annual Meeting in Chicago, Ill., Oct. 6-8.


Enter the contest and pay contest fees at this link

To nominate someone from your newspaper for consideration as a contest judge, email Cindy Durham in the SNPA office: cindy@snpa.org.  Judges will be assigned to a category other than the circulation bracket that their newspaper falls within.

For more information, contact Cindy Durham at: (404) 256-0444 or cindy@snpa.org.

Print Quality Contest
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