Please review ALL entry information before starting your entry.
- Our contest is completely entered online.
- Please give yourself time to prepare your entries for uploading.
- Confirm current membership status for each entrant listed; this can affect the entry fee due for each entry. Memberships, both new and renewals, can be submitted online via PayPal; see idahopressclub.org/join
- You will need to make a new account for this year’s contest to log-in on to the Best in Media awards site.
- If you have questions about the awards website, please read the informational links on the Best in Media awards site before calling Martha.
- Please be prepared to pay for entries via PayPal.
Please don’t wait until the last minute!
General Rules and Instructions
- This year’s deadline is Friday, January 23, 2026; all entries must be uploaded no later than that date. Questions or issues? Please call or email Martha at email@idahopressclub.org, 208-389-2879.
- All entries in this year’s Idaho Press Club Awards Contest must have been broadcast, telecast, or published in Idaho during the 2025 calendar year.
- The Idaho Press Club Awards Contest will not accept entries that used generative AI in their creation.
- Work by an Idaho-based journalist published in a national publication during the 2025 calendar year also may be entered in the applicable category.
- All individuals whose names appear in an entry must be members of the Idaho Press Club for that entry to qualify for the membership discount. You may join or renew your IPC membership at the time of entry and be considered a current member and eligible for the IPC member entry fee. You may submit membership online at idahopressclub.org/join. Online payments are processed using PayPal. Or send a separate check of $45 per regular member ($30 retired, $25 student) and pertinent mailing /email/ phone information to Idaho Press Club, P.O. Box 2221, Boise, ID 8371
- If you are unsure about your membership status, call or email the IPC office to verify. You may enter the contest if you are not a member, but you must pay the higher non-member entry rate.
Entry Fees, Divisions and Categories
- Payment must be included for all entries:
$20 per entry for current Idaho Press Club members*
$15 per entry for student members
$45 per entry for non-members
$30 per entry for non-member students
Fees include PayPal charges. Questions or issues? Please call or email Martha at email@idahopressclub.org, 208-389-2879.
- Find the division and entry categories HERE.
- Please note that in addition to your media division, such as TV, PR, or Weekly Publication, you may also want to submit entries in the Photo division; All-Media division categories, including Website General Excellence and Website Special Purpose; Best Spanish-Language Media; online newsletters; reporter, sports reporter and photographer of the year; special coverage; First Amendment Award, Best Use of Drone and Media Innovation Award, and for social media, blogs, etc. (we no longer have a separate Online Division)
- The Audio Division includes radio, podcasts, and other audio reporting.
- Photo is a separate division. This takes in all still photography categories.
- Parameters for General Excellence awards have been updated and revamped for both the Television and Audio divisions. There also are updates to various categories and descriptions in all divisions.
- Daily Publications are defined as any publication, online or print, that consistently publishes stories four or more days a week throughout the year.
- Weekly Publications are defined as any publication, online or print, that consistently publishes stories weekly throughout the year. If a publication updates its website throughout the week but publishes a print edition weekly or twice weekly, it should enter the Weekly Publication division.
- Periodicals are defined as any publication, online or print, which is published monthly or less frequently, such as magazines or guides.
- Individuals from out-of-state organizations entering this contest must show they worked full-time in an Idaho bureau or division at the time their entry was published or broadcast.
- Remember, every entry submitted can be edited by the entrant right up until the deadline. Look for the edit link at the top of the email you get every time you submit an entry.
- All submitted entries become the property of the Idaho Press Club. Winning entries may be displayed.
- Each story or photo may be entered in only one category.
Exceptions: Television Writing and Videography entries may also be entered in one other TV category; and stories entered in an individual category, such as general news story or live feature report, can also be part of an entry in the General Excellence, Reporter of the Year, Photographer of the Year, Rookie of the Year category, All Media or Website categories. Additional exceptions are allowed for an entry both in a story-specific category and in an overall category, such as Media Innovation Award, Spanish-Language Media, Audience Engagement, etc. A single story may not be entered in more than one story-specific category (such as Serious Feature, Light Feature, Business Report, Agriculture Report, etc.).
- Award winners will be announced at the Annual Awards Presentation on May 2, 2026. More details will be announced closer to the event.
- The awards contest entry site link starts here BEST IN MEDIA
- You must create a new account each year before you start to use the awards entry site. You can use the same username and password you did last year but follow the steps to CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT for this year.
How to Enter the Idaho Press Club Awards Made Easy
IPC ENTRY QUICK START GUIDE
- Use this Quick Start Link Guide to navigate to the areas of Best in Media that you need to create an entry, submit your media and pay your entry fee(s)
PRE-ENTRY PREPARATION
- Click Here to review the entry rules and criteria.
- Click Here for a list of this year’s Divisions and Categories
- Determine the division and category you want to enter. Pre-determining this speeds up the process.
- Entry Name: A correct example: “Treasure Valley Experiences Significant Growth.” Here’s a bad example” IPC Best News Story TV-Growth 9-20-2025”. Rule of thumb: What you call your entry is what will be printed on any award you receive. Make it make sense!
CREATE AN ACCOUNT / LOGGING IN FOR 2025
- Click Here to Create Your Account. You will only need to do this once for the Best of 2025. Note: Last year’s username and password WILL NOT WORK this year
- Click Here and select the tab called “Log In” to log into the site once you have created your account.
ENTRY FORM
- Click Here to open the Entry Form. Note: The form will walk you through the entire process.
- Note: Every time you submit an entry, a copy of your entry form will be sent to your email. That is your only copy. Each form will have a button that allows you to go back in and edit any part of your entry.
MEDIA
- Every entry allows up to 4 media files of any type. Make sure you have read the Rules and Criteria to make sure you are preparing your files correctly.
VIDEO: Submit a YouTube link to the video you want to submit. You must make sure this video is made public. Video specific entries must run from YouTube or Vimeo. Website embedded videos will only be accepted for online-only categories.
IMAGE: Any image either a JPG or PNG file
AUDIO: Any audio file formatted as an MP3 file
DOCUMENT: Any document formatted as a PDF file
WEBSITE: Any website URL
PAYWALLS: If possible, try to keep the same pay wall log in for all the entries for your publications
CHECK SUBMITTED MEDIA: Click here to view your Audio, Documents or Images. Videos and web entries only appear on your ENTRY FORM. You can also add additional MEDIA if you didn’t submit them during the ENTRY FORM process.
PAYMENT
- Add up all the entry forms you have submitted. They will be in your email.
- Click Here to go to the Payment Form.
- Your payment will be processed by PayPal or Venmo. Best in Media DOES NOT store any of your payment information.
FINISHING YOUR ENTRY SESSION
Click Here to go back to the site and log out.
