JEA Contests

Registration for JEA contests takes place outside of the convention registration system. Register for JEA contests at JEA.org/contests.

JEA National Student Media Contests

JEA National Student Media Contests are open to all students registered for the convention, at $20 per student.

From among the 46 competition categories, including writing, design, photo and broadcast, schools may enter students per one category or in teams for some broadcast categories. More information, complete contest rules and online contest submission guidelines are available at JEA.org/contests. 

Registration opens Feb. 7.

Registration closes at 6 p.m. Central March 14.

Submissions for online contest entries are due by 6 p.m. Central March 14.

On-site contest competition is 4-6 p.m. Pacific April 8.

Online contests

Entries due by 6 p.m. Central March 14.

At the spring convention, online contest participants must attend the on-site critique sessions to qualify for award rankings. On-site critiques occur 4-6 p.m. Friday, April 8.

Design categories
09 Newspaper Layout
10 Newsmagazine Layout
16 Yearbook Layout: Theme
17 Yearbook Layout: Inside Pages
18 Yearbook Cover/End Sheets
19 Literary Magazine Layout
23 Graphic Design: Logo
24 Graphic Design: Infographics
25 Graphic Design: Advertising
26 Graphic Design: Photo Illustration

Photography categories
27 Themed Photo
28 Sports Action Photography
29 Sports Feature Photography
30 Feature Photography
31 General or Spot News Photography
32 Photo Story
33 Portfolio
34 Portrait Photo
35 First-year Photo

Broadcast categories
36 Broadcast News Story (teams of one or two)
37 Broadcast Sports Story (teams of one or two)
38 Broadcast Feature Story (teams of one or two)
39 Broadcast Commercial/PSA (teams of one or two)
40 Videography
41 Short Documentary (teams of one or two)

On-site contests

On-site contest competition is 4-6 p.m. Pacific April 8. On-site broadcast contest competition is earlier in the day. Check the final convention program schedule for exact times.

Writing contests
01 Newswriting
02 Editorial Writing
03 Feature Writing
04 Sports Writing
05 Review Writing
06 Editorial Cartooning
07 Commentary Writing
08 News Editing/Headline Writing/Current Events

11 Press Law and Ethics

Yearbook contests
12 Yearbook Copy Captions: Sports
13 Yearbook Copy Captions: Academics
14 Yearbook Copy Captions: Clubs
15 Yearbook Copy Captions: Student Life

Literary Magazine contests
20 Literary Magazine: Poetry
21 Literary Magazine: Illustration
22 Literary Magazine: Photography

Broadcast contests
42 Video Package Editing
43 Online News Package (teams of one, two or three)
44 Broadcast Anchor
45 Broadcast Newswriting
46 Broadcast Package (team of two)

National Journalism Quiz Bowl

Are you ready to test your staff’s skills and knowledge against teams from across the country? 

The quiz bowl-style competition and qualifying exam will include questions related to current events, pop culture, journalism terminology, Associated Press style, spelling and usage, scholastic media law, civics/American government, classic and modern literature, sports and general knowledge.

Students compete in teams of four. Cost is $50 per team. Schools may have more than one team. Register online by April 1 to reserve your spot. Registration is available on-site if there are spots available.

Quiz Bowl teams will take a written test at 8 a.m. Friday, April 7. Each team of four will take one test together on one computer. Each team is responsible for bringing one computer/laptop/Chromebook (no iPads/tablets) to take the test on.

The test scores will be used to seed the top teams that will compete in the live buzzer rounds 8-10 a.m. Saturday.

Questions about NSMC or Quiz Bowl, contact staff@jea.org.

JEA contest FAQ

Students must be registered for the spring convention to participate in NSMC or Quiz Bowl. 

A student may participate in both NSMC and Quiz Bowl. The only scheduling conflict would apply to NSMC broadcast categories 44, 45, 46 or 47.