Introduction
Thank you for your interest in the 2024 Harvard Political Review Journalism Competition. This page includes all information pertaining to this competition for high school students. Should you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to our team at hprjournalismcompetition@gmail.com.
Contents
Who are we
Founded in 1969, The Harvard Political Review (HPR) is an undergraduate-run journal of politics, policy, and culture. Over the past generation, The HPR has incubated some of the best political minds in America with magazine alumni including Al Gore, Jr. (former United States Vice President and Nobel Laureate), E.J. Dionne, Jr. (Washington Post columnist), Jonathan Alter (former Newsweek Senior Editor and columnist), and Jeffrey Sachs (Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University). In recent years, HPR writers have won the National Press Club Award for Outstanding College Political Writing and matriculated to staff positions with Politico, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Reuters, Al Jazeera, and elsewhere. The HPR features student perspectives in the form of articles, podcasts, investigations, data-driven storytelling, photo journals, and interviews in sections spanning US, World, Local, Culture, and Science & Technology.
Housed under Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, the publication benefits from a broad readership base of over 75,000 a month. Moreover, this support and reach allows the publication access to some of the most influential political and cultural figures of our time. Past interviewees range from Dr. Anthony Fauci to Yo-Yo Ma to Tarja Halonen, the first female President of Finland.
Competition Overview
At The Harvard Political Review, we work under the mantra “timely, but timeless,” and ask submissions to strive toward this goal as well. While The Harvard Political Review is non-partisan as a publication, we encourage our own authors to take ownership of their opinions, conduct rigorous and thorough research, and demand attention from their audience through captivating writing. We expect similar efforts from article entries to this year’s competition.
From us, you can expect thorough attention in evaluating each piece, the chance to win prizes (as described below), as well as exclusive access to a seminar and Q&A conducted by our editorial team shortly before submissions are due.
Article submission must fall into one of the following categories. Please note that participants are welcome to submit up to one entry per category, however, participants are not allowed to recycle content between categories. Each submission will count as a separate entry and the number of entries made by an individual will not affect the judging process.
Short-form Articles: These articles, 800 – 1,200 words in length, span four categories: Outlook (opinionated), Explained (informative) , Narrative (personal), and Review (e.g. books, movies, shows etc.).
Articles in this category will be judged in two categories: 9th and 10th graders, and 11th and 12th graders.
Multimedia Projects: These entries should take the form of podcasts (15 minutes maximum), photojournalism pieces, or video essays (15 minutes maximum).
Eligibility
All current high school students are welcome to enter. This category exclusively includes rising 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th graders.
Judging Criteria
Articles should adhere to AP style. All sources must be included as hyperlinks.
Multimedia creators may draw on any audio and visual sources that they wish, as long as the final product is primarily their own work. Submissions must include a bibliography of all sources and a brief note explaining which elements (images, music, interviews, video footage etc.) are their original creation and which were taken from other sources.
The use of AI is strictly prohibited for producing written content (including scripts). Each submission will be screened thoroughly for the use of AI before being shared with judges. Any author found to have used AI for written content, whether for the whole piece or segments, will be disqualified from all submission categories.
The judging panel will evaluate submissions under the following criteria:
Strength of Argument: The author clearly communicates their argument and why they believe it is important.
Use of Evidence: The author utilizes a wide range of evidence and incorporates it effectively into their overarching argument.
Structure: The article or project structure is easy to follow and supports the article’s argument.
Style: The author maintains a clear and engaging journalistic voice throughout the piece. For podcast and video submissions, this includes having a varied and engaging spoken tone.
Originality: The article or project’s content provides a new perspective for its audience.
Length: The article or project does not exceed the word or length limit described in the Competition Overview section.
Sources: The sources are communicated through hyperlinks (in the case of an article) or a bibliography (in the case of a multimedia project).
Plagiarism: The article or project must be entirely the work of the stated author. The use of AI to produce written content falls under plagiarism and is strictly prohibited. Authors found to have used AI to produce written content (including scripts) on any submission will be disqualified from the entire competition.
Specific to short-form articles: The author adheres to AP style.
Specific to podcast and video projects: The author incorporates a variety of audio and, if applicable, visual sources seamlessly and generously. Why is it important you tell this story through a podcast/video rather than a written article?
Specific to photojournalism projects: The author integrates photos and texts smoothly and critically evaluates whether each photograph and paragraph moves the piece forward.
Timeline
June 1st: Registration Opens
June 14th: Submissions Open (instructions sent on a rolling basis to registered participants)
July 14th (11:59pm EST): Registration Closes
July 21st (11:59pm EST): Submissions due
Winners announced in late August
