Let your students shine in the Spring 2025 National Student Media Contests.
NSMC allows scholastic journalists to test their skills as they compete in 46 contest categories at the Spring JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention — 21 contests take place on site April 25 in Seattle, and 25 contests are submitted online by April 1 noon CDT with mandatory on-site critiques April 25.
Students create a journalistic product from the contest prompt with a specific content packet or theme. With the exception of some photography and broadcast contests, the contest entry should not be something previously published or planned to publish in student media.
On-site contest participants will receive full instructions on April 25. Online contest participants can find prompts and themes linked below. Please double-check student registration and make sure they know if they are signed up for an on-site or online contest category.
Each contest entry is critiqued by a team of judges, and the top entries are given superior, excellent or honorable mention placements. Judges’ feedback is available to contestants in the NSMC contest system on April 27.
The contests are part of the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention and require concurrent registration for the spring convention and NSMC to be eligible for awards. The journalism teacher-adviser must be a current JEA member for the students to participate in the contests.
Remember, it is imperative that advisers and contestants carefully read all the rules to make sure all deadlines and requirements are met, to avoid disqualification.
NSMC registration information
Registration for the Spring 2025 NSMC in Seattle will open Feb. 24, 2025. All students competing in NSMC on-site and online contests must be registered by noon CDT, Tuesday, April 1.
Online contest submissions can be submitted Feb. 24 through April 1. All online submissions must be entered by noon CDT, Tuesday, April 1.
For your record keeping, use the NSMC contest tracker in Google Sheets to assign students to contests and manage online entry submissions. Go to the File menu, then select Make a Copy or Download to record your student assignments.
Prompts for Spring 2025 NSMC online contests
Online submission materials are made available for use in preparing entries for selected JEA National Student Media Contests. Each zip file contains contest instructions and all materials needed to complete your entry. For full contest information, go to the main JEA National Student Media Contests page.
Note about online photo contests 28-35:
Online photo contests 28 Sports Action Photography, 29 Sports Feature Photography, 30 Feature Photography, 31 General/Spot News Photography, 32 Photo Story, 34 Portrait Photo and 35 First Year Photo do not have materials to download as the entries should be photos taken during this school year. Contest 33 Photography Portfolio also doesn’t have material to download but entries can include photos from the entire high school career.
Note about online broadcast contests 36-39:
Online broadcast contests 36 Broadcast News Story, 37 Broadcast Sports Story, 38 Broadcast Feature Story and 39 Broadcast Commercial/PSA do not have materials to download as the entries should be stories broadcast during this school year.
Download all Spring 2025 NSMC Seattle prompts and online contest materials.
09: Newspaper Layout
View/download assignment prompt and materials
10: Newsmagazine Layout
View/download assignment prompt and materials
16: Yearbook Layout – Theme
View/download assignment prompt and materials
17: Yearbook Layout – Inside Pages
View/download assignment prompt and materials
18: Yearbook Cover/Endsheets
View/download assignment prompt and materials
19: Literary Magazine – Layout
View/download assignment prompt and materials
23: Graphic Design – Logo
View/download assignment prompt and materials
24: Graphic Design – Infographics
View/download assignment prompt and materials
25: Graphic Design – Advertising
View/download assignment prompt and materials
26: Graphic Design – Photo Illustration
View/download assignment prompt (no additional materials)
27: Themed Photo
Theme for Spring 2025: See It To Believe It
40: Videography
Theme for Spring 2025: See It To Believe It
41: Podcast
Theme for Spring 2025: See It To Believe It
For full contest information, visit the main JEA National Student Media Contests page.