The Award

Civil engineering touches virtually every aspect of our daily lives. From our safe and abundant drinking water supply to the sophisticated arteries of our interstate highway system, civil engineering has been the backbone of our evolving civilization. A sound infrastructure and a clean environment are critical to our economy and quality of life. With such high expectations for our nation's infrastructure, it's only natural that issues such as traffic congestion, sprawling suburbs, abundant and safe drinking water, and new construction make headlines each and every day. When journalists are insightful and judicious in their reporting, citizens can play a more informed role in the infrastructure debate that shapes their communities.

In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) established the Excellence in Journalism Award to honor newspaper journalists for outstanding news articles that enhance public understanding of the role and impact of civil engineers and civil engineering in designing solutions for clean water, transportation, the environment and other public works projects. In 2006, the award was expanded to include journalists and producers from English-language, general interest regional and national newspapers, radio and television stations, magazines, and electronic and Web-based news outlets.

Nominations of regional or national general interest news stories are accepted in five categories: Daily and Weekly Newspapers, Magazines, Electronic/Web-Based News Outlets, Radio and Television. ASCE's Committee on Communications may choose a winner, or winners, in any of these categories.

One entry will be selected to receive the overall Excellence in Journalism Award, and that journalist will receive an honorarium and a plaque, which will be presented at the annual ASCE Civil Engineering Conference and Exposition. If an entry is authored or produced by more than one journalist, the honorarium will be divided amongst the winners. Merit Certificate(s), as well as overall honorable mention awards, may also be awarded within the five categories at the discretion of the committee. The committee may also choose not to present an award.

Through this national award, ASCE hopes to encourage continued coverage of civil engineering and related issues as a means to engage the public in civil engineering initiatives impacting their community.

Nomination and Selection

Journalists are encouraged to nominate themselves and apply for the award directly to ASCE. All ASCE Sections and Branches are also encouraged to nominate entries for the national competition. A Section or Branch may choose to submit an unlimited number of entries per category, or up to two if the Section or Branch conducts a local Excellence in Journalism Award competition. Upon selecting the nominee(s), the Section or Branch must forward its entries to ASCE National in Reston, VA.

ASCE's Committee on Communications will choose the national winner(s) during its summer meeting. The national winner(s) will be honored at the annual ASCE Civil Engineering Conference in the fall.

All entries must be postmarked by June 1, and submitted to Karen Albers at ASCE, 1801 Alexander Bell Drive, Reston, VA 20191; Phone: 1-800-548-ASCE, ext. 6404; Fax: 703-295-6491; E-mail: kalbers@asce.org.

Criteria

• The following criteria should be used in selecting nominations and judging local Excellence in Journalism Award competitions. All criteria are given equal weight. Sections and Branches submitting self-nominated entries from journalists are encouraged to include additional documentation illustrating how the story meets the criteria. The story must:
• Advance public knowledge and understanding of civil engineers, the profession or the issues that they impact;
• Include knowledgeable civil engineering experts;
• Cover all sides of the civil engineering issue fairly;
• Effectively explain how the civil engineering project or issue impacts the community or region;
• Accurately describe the civil engineering project or issue; and
• Clearly describe the civil engineer's role (Examples: How did engineers contribute to the project's completion? How did engineers influence the positive outcome of an environmental issue, natural disaster or key legislation?).

Stories may include coverage of civil engineers, civil engineering feats, civil engineering projects or other pertinent issues.

Eligibility

• The awards honor English-language, general interest, regional or national news stories from the U.S. in one of the following categories:
  • Daily and weekly newspapers (i.e. - USA Today, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Village Voice)
  • General circulation (non-trade) related magazines (i.e. - Newsweek, Popular Science, Philadelphia)
  • Electronic/Web-based, non-trade related news outlets (i.e. - stories from www.wirednews.com, www.msnbc.msn.com)
  • Radio shows (i.e. - NPR's "Morning Edition," "AM Atlanta" on WGST-AM, Atlanta, Ga.)
  • Television news shows (i.e. - NBC's "Dateline," "Channel 3 News Today" on WKYC-TV, Cleveland, Ohio, CNN's "Live Today")
• Stories published or broadcast in the twelve-month period ending with April of the year of award are eligible (e.g. 2008 nominations must have appeared between May 1, 2007 and April 30,2008).
• Entries submitted by an ASCE Section or Branch must be from a news outlet in their local area.
• A single story, series or special section is eligible. A series is a coordinated sequence of articles/broadcast segments appearing closely in time and covering unified story angles. A special section also is a coordinated package, but the stories all appear the same day.
• If an entry is co-authored/produced, at least one author must be a full-time journalist. The story will be considered a single entry and the honorarium will be divided between all journalists listed on the entry form.
• An ASCE Section or Branch can nominate an unlimited number of entries per category, or up to two if the Section or Branch conducts a local Excellence in Journalism Award competition.
• ASCE may present the award to one or more nominees, give honorable mention awards, or bestow no awards at all.

Entry Format

• ALL entries must include:
  • A completed and signed copy of the Official Entry Form; and
  • A description of how the entry meets the six official criteria. Include up to two single-spaced typed pages.
• All print entries (newspapers, non-trade related magazines) must include:
  • An original clipping of the article as it appeared in the publication, including date of publication at the top of the first page, and a copy of the publication's name plate; and
  • A legible photocopy of the article, including date of publication at the top of the first page and a copy of the publication's nameplate, on white, 8 ½" by 11" or legal-sized paper.
• All radio and television entries must include:
  • A digital copy of the segment/program, including any introductory information or station ID's, on a PC formatted CD.
• All electronic and Web-based news outlet entries (electronic, non-trade related magazines and newspapers) must include:
  • An HTML copy of the story, including the Web site banner, on a PC formatted CD; and
  • An 8 ½" by 11" printed copy of the story, including the date of publication.

Past Award Winners