It’s newspaper contest time at TPA.

That means newspaper staffs from around the state are in the process of gathering their best efforts from the past year to be judged by another state, head-to-head against other newspapers of similar size.

It’s an exercise that can be laborious, even tedious. But if done in the right frame of mind, can yield positive results.

That’s why it’s called the Better Newspaper Contest, not the Let’s Win Awards contest.

Twice each year the state’s newspapers (more if you participate at the regional level) have the opportunity to evaluate what’s right, and what can be done better.

The first is the exercise of preparing your entry for the contest.

The second comes when it’s time to judge another state’s contest. It’s a marvelous opportunity to pick up some great ideas. And all it takes is a little of your time, and the transportation to get to Austin. (TPA needs volunteers Oct. 16-17 for the Wisconsin Newspaper Association contest judging in Austin.)

Over the years I have been involved in the TPA newspaper contest to varying degrees, including chairing that committee. It’s not an enviable job. Thanks to Russel Skiles, of the Lamesa Press Reporter, for tackling the task again this year.

The chairman has the challenge of steering the committee through the various forces that would pull the contest in one direction or another.

It’s one of those jobs that you know you must have done well when no one’s happy.

Thankfully this year’s committee meeting was not contentious. There were lots of good ideas and a good discussion.

One thing is very clear. No newspaper contest will ever please every entrant.

It’s just not possible to fairly judge a newspaper’s effort by looking at a few of its pages, and it’s not ever going to be possible to create categories that are fair to all concerned.

Just ask the UIL about that, when it divvies up the state’s high schools for competition every two years.

No two newspapers are alike. Even those that might appear on the surface to be about the same, in reality can be quite different.

Back in the early or mid 1990s when there was a lot of effort put into trying to come up with a way to make the divisions more fair, it became apparent that a formula to really balance the contest would take a rocket scientist.

Sure circulation, population and proximity to metro areas have a major impact. But so do lots of other things: Debt service, ownership’s commitment to quality, factors in the local economy, quality of press work, and so forth.

I’m going to pick on the Port Aransas South Jetty because they are a great example of just how unique a market can be. And Murray Judson knows quite well about the issues facing the contest committee, since he, too, has served as chairman.

A category that would be fair to the South Jetty might be Weekly Newspapers In Coastal Resort Communities Without a Wal-Mart or a Football Team. Only problem, they might be the only paper in the contest.

So to keep it fairly simple, circulation is used as the best available tool. Let’s face it, the only fair test would be for someone to read every issue produced during the year by every newspaper in the contest.

But instead we put some of our best work out there, compare it with the best entries of our fellow competitors, and try to learn how to improve.

I’m going to pick on another friend, Randy Keck at The Community News in Aledo. I’ve seen what Randy started with nearly 13 years ago, and it wasn’t pretty. Those four-page issues pasted up on a card table in his bedroom are a far cry from the consistently award-winning product he and his staff produce now.

And one of the ways he got to that point was by looking at other topflight newspapers and learning how they did it. He also spent a lot of time learning about the business through his TPA membership.

He also took to heart my admonition that to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best, and he continually worked to improve his newspaper until it became a regular winner.

Every one of us has a newspaper or two in our division that appears unbeatable. But if you are truly committed to excellence (I can’t imagine a newspaper publisher who’s not), then you will find a way with whatever resources you have, to put out a quality product.

And one day, some judge will decide you knocked off the champ. And that will be icing on the cake. Because you did it for your readers, not for a plaque.