Social Media Creator of the Year
NOTE: Each current CSMA member medium may sponsor ONE portfolio, by ONE student journalist. Each student may only enter one category (e.g., either Reporter or Designer, but not both).
What is this?
This contest honors social media content utilized for the delivery of journalistic material, advertising, or other content in support of a student (newspaper/newsmagazine/magazine and yearbook) publication. Content must be from this school year that demonstrates broad excellence.
This competition requires the journalist to compile and submit social media content in a portfolio format. Content should be the work of a single creator. Content that was generated by a small group may be included if the nominee was primarily responsible for the content creation and posting. Content included for this contest must have been posted to the official social media channels of the school publication. Media that was published to personal accounts is not allowed in this portfolio.
The creator who submits the top portfolio will be named the CSMA Social Media Creator of the Year. The winner receives a prize of $250 and the winner’s program receives a check for an additional $250.
The online form for all entries in this competition is here. Please note that the entire form must be completed in one sitting — the system will not save partial forms.
What is a portfolio?
Entrants should select a maximum of 10 examples of their social media content created during the current school year and place them in a portfolio on a website (a personal site, perhaps using WordPress.com free hosting, or Weebly), or other platform for sharing (Dropbox or some other sharing site). The portfolio should include social media content (or links to the original posts) along with a description of the purpose of the content for your student media publication and your reasoning for including this in the portfolio.
The general purposes of a portfolio include helping attain scholarships and getting hired as a journalist, among other things. This specific portfolio is to demonstrate a creator’s skills to best communicate information to specific audiences.
What will judges look for?
Judges want to see a range of work that shows consistency of skill, creativity, and knowledge of social media trends.
Some advice from veteran judges: Your portfolio is only as strong as your weakest content, so judges advise you to NOT include 10 posts just to be including the maximum entries. If you have 10 terrific examples, by all means, use them all. Judges will look for your “voice” as a creator, for versatility in content, and for technical excellence.
Along with the content, please include brief annotations that include context for the post, some thoughts on why the creator chose this particular example, and anything else that a judge should take into consideration. These annotations may be on a separate document, but should be clearly keyed to individual samples of your work.
Who may enter?
Each current CSMA member medium may sponsor ONE portfolio, by ONE student journalist. Entrants may be of any grade, but must have been a staff member of at least one student medium at the school. The content in the portfolio must have been posted to the publication social media channels during this school year to qualify.
How do we enter?
Carefully gather examples of your best social media content since last August. Place the content, or links to the content, in a site or document that can be accessed by the judges. All entries must use the online application form – and then the portfolios will be distributed to the judges by CSMA.
When is the deadline for submission?
Entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. MT, April 15.
When do we get results?
Judging will be finished by May 15. CSMA will announce winners during the last week of May. Award certificates will be mailed to schools. This contest is not a critique, so only general comments from the judges may be shared.
There are no enrollment classifications for this contest. Again, all grades are eligible.
Top portfolios may also be shared through the CSMA social media and website following judging and notification of winners.
What if we have more questions?
Contact Jed Palmer [email protected].
Past winners
2026 – Sammy Granado, Brighton HS – See his portfolio here