Newswise — Join a prestigious group of journalists and win your very own 2009 MORE Award. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) has opened the call for submissions to its fourth annual MORE Awards. These awards recognize excellence in reporting on accurate musculoskeletal health issues and healthy behaviors in the care of bones, joints and muscles. The AAOS invites all journalists to join the "best of the best" in the health care reporting arena.

Recent MORE Awards winners include:"¢ Juju Chang, ABC News "¢ Judy Fortin, CNN"¢ Julie Appleby, USA Today"¢ Ron Winslow, Wall Street Journal Have you recently written or reported on any of the following:"¢ Scoliosis"¢ Hip resurfacing"¢ Joint replacement"¢ Osteoporosis or arthritis"¢ Sports injuries or injury prevention"¢ Military or war-related extremity injuries"¢ Stem cells and regenerative medicine"¢ Anything related to bones, joints or muscles? MORE Awards will be given to media in the following categories: "¢ National Consumer Print Journalism : newspapers, magazines, Internet"¢ Local Consumer Print Journalism: newspapers, magazine, Internet"¢ National Broadcast Journalism: television, radio "¢ Local Broadcast Journalism: television, radio

NEW Category for the 2009 competition"¢ Advocacy: newspapers, magazines, Internet, television, radio

Entries submitted in the Advocacy category recognize excellence in reporting musculoskeletal health programs at the federal, state and local levels as well as emphasize the importance of research funding for the advancement of orthopaedics.

The entry deadline is Friday, October 31, 2008. Entries must have been published or broadcast between October 1, 2007 and October 1, 2008. The rules and entry form " open to all journalists, freelance writers and editors in print or broadcast media " are accessible at http://www.aaos.org/moreawards.

"Educating the public and patients is an important component of the AAOS mission and the MORE Awards are designed to recognize journalists whose work helps accomplish this," explained Tony Rankin, MD, president of AAOS. "The MORE Awards were created to recognize the members of the media who " by virtue of their ability to ask the right questions and connect all the answers in a concise educational package " place orthopaedic-related issues and medical advancements in the spotlight."

The MORE Awards will be presented Friday, May 1, 2009 at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference in Washington, DC.

The 2008 MORE Awards were given to Brown Alumni Magazine, WTTW-TV Chicago, HBO Real Sports, Family Circle, Newsweek among many others.