The 2020 Heartland EMMY® Awards Competition
Our next Call for Entries opens mid-December, 2020, for work produced for a regional Heartland audience and which first aired during calendar year 2020.
Congratulations to our 2020 Emmy® award recipients! The full list, including the winners for Student Achievement Awards, is here in a pdf.
Discussion around Categories without Nominations
It has come to our attention that there are questions related to categories which did not receive nominations in this year’s Heartland Regional Emmy Awards. First, thank you to the members who have asked about the judging process. Second, in order to foster clear communication and transparency among all members, we want to further explain that process.
- This is neither a precedent-setting nor a unique circumstance. Categories with zero nominees occur annually, and over a wide variety of disciplines. This year there were 3 professional categories which did not receive nominations.
- All entries in all categories are judged by at least 7 peers in a NATAS region outside of the Heartland chapter. Peers are defined as people who have three or more years experience working in the category they are judging. Judges acknowledge their experience via affidavits submitted to NATAS. Entries are judged on their own individual merits; they are not judged in competition with each other, which is why it is possible to have a statistical tie once all scores are added together.
- In order to receive a nomination, an entry must reach a threshold percentage of high scores. Entries with scores below that threshold do not receive a nomination. The Awards Committee determines the cut-off percentage in a “blind” meeting where the entrants and categories are undisclosed.
- In order to receive an Emmy award, entries much reach an even higher threshold.
Every year, we research the categories without nominations. We determined that all of the judges were peers and their credentials are in order. We also verified that different chapters judged different categories, meaning they weren’t all judged by the same chapter which might imply a bias toward, or dislike of, the Heartland region. Further, the judges’ scores did not reflect a bias toward or against a particular company, group, or entrant.
We encourage questions about the judging process and work diligently to ensure its credibility and authenticity. If you ever have concerns or questions, please don’t hesitate to submit a written letter to the NATAS Heartland Chapter office, to be taken up by the Awards Committee. This is the best way to ensure clear, transparent communication.
Sincerely,
The NATAS Heartland Chapter Awards Committee