FOR RELEASE:  Jan. 7, 2008

Entries for 2007 Iowa Gallup Award accepted through March 1

Iowa City, IA – Entries for the 2007 Iowa Gallup Award for Excellent Journalism Using Polls will be accepted now through March 1, 2008.  Stories must be original and broadcast or published in print or online between Jan. 1, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2007.  News organizations and professional pollsters are invited to nominate stories.

The annual award is co-sponsored by The University of Iowa School of Journalism and Mass Communication and The Gallup Organization.  This is the third year for the award with ABC News and The Washington Post previously winning.

The Iowa Gallup Award recognizes the importance of the news media's use of polls in understanding public opinion and shaping discourse on social and political issues.  Journalists' accurate, creative and intelligent analysis of polling data can add depth and dimension to their reporting, as well as enhance the quality of public debate.  The award is designed to reward news media stories that feature such analysis and thus promote the best use and presentation of polls and data in journalism and media.

Award-winning stories will be accurate in analyzing and interpreting data, have clarity of presentation, and, considering the importance of the story, have implications for public discourse.  Complete details of the judging criteria, including the minimal requirements, and an entry form can be found at the award web site http://www.uiowa.edu/jmc/GallupAward .

The recipient of the award will be announced in April and will receive a $2,500 stipend.  The Iowa Gallup Award medallion will be presented at a ceremony at The Gallup Organization, Washington D. C., in the fall.

The award is named in honor of George H. Gallup, an Iowa native who earned three degrees from The University of Iowa, taught in the School of Journalism and founded the Quill and Scroll, an international honorary society for high school journalists that is based at the UI.  In 1935, he founded the American Institute of Public Opinion.  Over the next 60 years, his company grew to international proportion as The Gallup Organization.

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For more information, contact:

Arlecia D. Simmons
Program Assistant
The University of Iowa
School of Journalism and Mass Communication
E305 Adler Journalism Building
Iowa City, IA 52242-2004
arlecia-simmons@uiowa.edu