DEADLINE: JULY 6, 2009 (Late deadline: JULY 13, 2009)

The APME Public Service Awards are given to Associated Press or Canadian Press member newspapers for meritorious service to the community, state or nation.

Entries will be judged on the basis of how the newspaper made full use of its resources in serving the public good and on the high quality of journalism exhibited in the work. Work that demonstrates evidence of positive change that has benefited the public or its institutions will be given strong consideration. The entry may be a single article or a series, and, in addition to the primary print coverage, can include sidebars, graphics, online work, commentary and editorials.

Nominations may be made by a newspaper itself, by other newspapers, by AP bureaus or by civic or cultural organizations for work published between June 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009. (Eligibility period restores one month reduced in 2008 competition due to earlier convention that year.)

There shall be three awards: one for newspapers with average daily circulation to 39,999; one for newspapers with average daily circulation of 40,000 to 149,999; another for newspapers of 150,000 average daily circulation or more, according to the latest audited figures. APME reserves the right to decline to award a winner in any category.

Only newspapers are eligible to submit entries, except that bureau work may be entered by a single newspaper for judging in the 150,000-and-over circulation category regardless of the size of the paper in which the work appears.

All entries will be submitted online at www.omnicontests3.com/apme/omnicontests.

Entries should include electronic files of clippings of stories, series and/or editorials and community reaction. No more than 20 electronic files may be submitted, including a detailed letter outlining the background, accomplishments and results of the effort. The letter should discuss significant challenges to the accuracy or the approach of the entry, and steps the newspaper took to address those concerns. The entry must include all published corrections or clarifications.

Entry questions should be directed to:

Mark Mittelstadt, APME
The Associated Press
19 Commerce Court West
Cranbury, NJ 08512

Phone: (212) 621-1838

E-mail: mmittelstadt@ap.org

Entries must be submitted online by July 6, 2009, to be assessed the normal entry fee, or by July 13, 2009, for an additional $25 assessment.

A $100 contest fee ($75 for APME members) will be assessed entries submitted by July 6. Entries submitted from July 7-13 will be assessed $125 ($100 for APME members).

Follow information on the online application to submit payment by credit card or to send a check.

(For more on APME membership go here).

Judging will be done by the president and three past presidents of APME plus a senior editor of The Associated Press. Winners will be announced a short time later and recognized at the APME annual conference in St. Louis Oct. 28-30, 2009.

Over 150,000 circulation:

The Free Press of Detroit for revealing that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff lied under oath in a costly lawsuit against the city.

40,000 to 150,000 circulation:

The News Journal, Wilmington, Del., for a revealing patient abuse, rape and assaults, and felons working as doctors and attendants at Delaware's only mental hospital.

Under 40,000 circulation:

The Virgin Islands Daily News of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, for uncovering an ill-conceived fee that the territory's waste management authority was planning to impose.