Periodical Staff Writing for Internal Audiences

General Observations

Overall the judges were impressed with the range of approaches editors and writers used to tell good stories and communicate with internal audiences in vivid and interesting ways. It is evident these institutions place a high value on connecting internal audiences with the institution's and/or the publication's mission.

The stories that caught our eye were those that succeeded in enhancing a profile of a colleague or research topic or institutional priority through great writing. We looked for evidence of writers having asked the deeper questions, and we appreciated the samples that provided multiple ways for a reader to enter a story and access additional important and valuable information. Some of the submissions lacked the creative writing to hook a reader and pull him or her through to the end. Even in articles or stories that are a single paragraph - and cover mundane topics - the writing should be vivid and interesting and not sound like a label or abstract. Several of the submissions lacked strong headlines and subheads and so missed that additional opportunity to inform the skimmer who won't commit time to an article.

Comments on Winning Entries

Gold Medal

Duke University - Working @ Duke: Working @ Duke

• Makes communication with an internal audience fun, exciting and informative. The stories are nicely written, engaging and surrounded by great factoids, sidebars and complementary art (loads of entry points). As a package, the stories on employment issues - managing e-mail, employee benefits, retirement, and ride-sharing- were packed with excellent information. It is clear to the judges that great thought and planning go into these stories, that every conceivable question is considered and that the writers, editors and designers work hard to pull everything together. The by day/by night profiles are personal and fun, and they connect back to the institution. The juxtaposition of photography is excellent. This publication makes clear that the needs of its internal audience are top of mind at all times and that stories and articles are written to provide news you can use in every issue.

Silver Medal

University of Bristol - Subtext

• Congratulations to the University of Bristol editorial staff for creating wonderful, intellectually stimulating stories with strong, visual leads and informative content tucked in throughout. In several instances, such as in "Life Below Zero" and "The Arts of Maths" the writers provide great context to boost even further the impact of the story. The insertion of humor and irreverence is a great plus, and the strong visuals are thoughtfully developed to add intrigue and further the stories. The judges were impressed with the unconventional approaches and topics and the thorough reporting that produced these terrific stories for Subtext's audiences. The feeling was unanimous that this publication meets its mission "to offer a window into the life of the university and an antidote to the notion of our institution as closed-off, stuffy or an ivory tower." We question whether a publication that comes out just three times in a year can provide internal audiences with timely employment news.

Bronze Medal

Tufts University - Tufts Journal

• The publications staff offers a nice balance of deep stories, such as "A Martian Adventure in Antarctica" and human-interest pieces, such as "Dieting by instinct." The headlines were interesting (even clever in several instances) and written to catch and keep the reader's attention. The judges felt the writers did a great job with story development and pursuing deeper questions, all of which produced some fascinating articles that succeeded in "showcasing the university's excellence in teaching and research, its civically engaged student body and its role in the world." Overall we admired this publication for its warmth and ability to convey - through people - the university's role in the world as one of discovery and engagement. We enjoyed the online extras. Some things to work on include planning more creative photography to match the intent of the stories and beefing up the subheads, which now are labels and provide no incentive to jump into the story at deeper points.