National Journalism Quiz Bowl
Are you ready to test your staff’s skills and knowledge against teams from across the country? Then start prepping and putting together four-person teams for the National Journalism Quiz Bowl competition, part of the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention.
The quiz bowl-style competition and qualifying exam will include questions related to the following categories:
- Journalism: News judgment
- Journalism: Newsgathering and research
- Journalism: Newsgathering and interviewing
- Press law and ethics
- Journalism terms
- Journalism and American history
- Photography
- Broadcast
- AP Style and editing
- Journalism design
- Current Events
National Convention Participation Deadlines and Registration
Quiz Bowl teams will take a written test at 8 a.m. Friday at the convention. Each team of four will take one test together on one computer. Each team is responsible for bringing its own computer/laptop/Chromebook (no iPads/tablets) for the test. The test will be taken through Canvas. If your school uses Canvas, this will be a DIFFERENT Canvas account created by JEA, but be sure your device meets Canvas device/browser requirements.
If you need to borrow a JEA laptop, email Porter@jea.org.
The 16 top-scoring teams on the qualifying test will advance to compete in the live buzzer rounds from 8-10 a.m. Saturday. If there is a tie, the fastest times will be used to determine which teams advance.
A team is made up of four members, but teams may compete with fewer people if they choose to do so. ONLY students who took the qualifying test Friday may compete Saturday, but teams may compete short if a student is not available Saturday.
The registration fee for each four-person team is $50.
Preparation
Teams are encouraged to use the topics and lessons from the JEA Curriculum for study materials.
Four team members can divide up the topics to study in preparation for the quiz bowl. For example, have Team Member 1 study the terms in the glossary of a good journalism textbook. Remember the test represents all media: newspaper, magazine, yearbook, broadcast, photography, graphic design and online publications.
Team Member 2 can review the major legal cases that impact scholastic journalism. The SPLC Law of the Student Press is a good resource as are the splc.org and JEA press rights posts.
Team Member 3 can review terms and concepts related to journalism and American history.
Team Member 4 should brush up on Associated Press style and basic grammar and usage.
Finally, have the whole team review the major news and sports stories from the past 6 months. There are a number of websites that list major news events from each month.
Watch for details on the convention website about how to register a team for the National Journalism Quiz Bowl.
National Journalism Quiz Bowl Frequently Asked Questions
- How many students are on a team? A team for the National Journalism Quiz Bowl has four students. This is a good way to get the different publication staffs at a school working together. For instance, a team might include one representative from the newspaper, yearbook, broadcast and literary magazine staff at a school.
- How much does it cost to enter a team? The entry fee for the National Journalism Quiz Bowl is $50 per team.
- How many teams may a school have? There is no limit to the number of teams a school may enter. It is fun to have a varsity team of upperclassmen and a junior varsity team of underclassmen.
- What topics are covered in the questions for the National Journalism Quiz Bowl? The general subject areas are listed above. Questions range from easy to difficult and are rotated randomly in the qualifying round and live buzzer rounds. The current events questions are taken from the 12 months preceding the convention where the quiz bowl is held.
- How does the quiz bowl work? On Friday morning at the convention, the members of each team collaborate to take a 50-question multiple-choice test that is used to cut the number of teams for the live buzzer rounds and to seed the top 16 teams. On Saturday morning, the teams compete in live buzzer rounds with a moderator asking the questions and the team members buzzing in to answer. The student who buzzes in must answer the question. The moderator goes over the rules of the competition before the rounds begin.
- Is there a prize for winning? Yes, the winning team receives a trophy to take home.
- How can students prepare for the quiz bowl? A good way to prepare for the quiz bowl is to have each member of the team “specialize” in one of the subject areas covered in the quiz bowl. For instance, one team member can review AP style while another studies the basic facts of civics and American government. The entire team could review current events, or the team could divide up the previous 12 months and have individual team members focus on specific months. There are plenty of resources available to study. Most journalism textbooks have glossaries of terms. The practice citizenship tests on the Internet provide a way to study for the civics questions. There are numerous sites that list major current events.
- When does the quiz bowl take place? The preliminary test for the National Journalism Quiz Bowl is given at 8 a.m. on Friday morning during the convention. The buzzer rounds begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday morning. The bracket for the buzzer rounds is posted by noon on Friday.