The 2021 WPM Contest is open

Quill and Scroll is accepting entries through Feb. 5, 2021 for the 2021 Writing, Photo and Multimedia Contest. We will offer contests in 34 categories this year, including four new areas:

• Pandemic Coverage, Single Story
• Pandemic Coverage, Package or Series of Stories
• Sports Event Story
• Climate and Environment Story

As always, stories must have been written by a high school student, and must have been published, broadcast or run online for a student media entity or for a professional news organization between the dates Feb. 1, 2020 and Feb. 1, 2021. This includes yearbook spreads and stories if they qualify under the categories (right side of this page).

You may also use this opportunity to register for the 2021 News Media Evaluation critique service. Costs for that are as follows:

• Comprehensive Multimedia Critique with extensive comments ($150).
• Comprehensive Single-Medium Critique with extensive comments ($80).
• Ratings-Only Multimedia Critique without comments ($80).
• Ratings-Only Single-Medium Critique without comments ($80).

If you don’t enter the NME critique service now, you may do so later in 2021.

The final deadline for WPM entries is Feb. 5, 2021.

See all the categories to the right. By clicking on the link, you can learn about each category’s entry criteria.

For the fourth consecutive year, this is an all-digital contest, so all entries must be accompanied by a link to a digital file or folder that houses the entry.

The first step is to click the button on the upper left of this page, which will take you to the School Entry Form. That is the form filled out by someone representing the school or professional news organization, and who can arrange for payment of the entries.

When you are finished with the School Entry Form, hit “Submit” at the bottom, and you will be taken to the Student Entry Form, which allows for your first 30 entries. When you are done with that, hit “Submit” for that form. If you have fewer than 30 entries, you can always hit “NO” when asked the question “Do you have another entry” and hit “Submit.”

If you have more than 30 entries per school, you will get a prompt to go back to the Student Entry Form and proceed with the next 30 entries.

Payment

You may pay by credit card, check or purchase order. Instructions for all types of transactions are on the School Entry Form. The link to credit card payment is also in the button at the top of this page.