Publications that win awards . . .

Being on the ACP Awards Committee, I’ve become very familiar—maybe a little too familiar—with this year’s results. After perusing the comments on the winning entries, I offer to you, dear members, a list of winning characteristics that pretty much cut across online-print and the different kinds of publications that are members.

Publications that win:

• Cover a wide range and a good mix of topics
• Cover challenging and intriguing topics
• Find fresh perspectives on topics
• Cover topics in a fair and balanced way (trite but true)
• Cover topics comprehensively, with good research and solid insight
• Keep their audience firmly in mind
• Publish articles with compelling stories, anecdotes, and quotes
• Publish articles that include, emotion, drama, and intelligence
• Back up articles with sound theology
• Provide practical information to the reader
• Get the best writing possible and devote sufficient time and energy to editing
• Run stories with good leads
• Run concise stories
• Have designs that are clean, organized, coherent, consistent, easy to follow, and uncluttered
• Have layouts that don’t lose, confuse, or distract the reader
• Use engaging cover lines, titles, decks, callouts, and sidebars as a package with articles
• Utilize readable typography
• Use large, high-quality photos
• Are colorful
• Use design to enhance content

—Joel Schorn
Co-Chair, ACP Awards Committee