A peer judge is defined as any person with a minimum of two years of professional experience in the field of television program production, programming, or allied media who is directly engaged in or supervises the discipline they’re being asked to judge.

Potential judges may also include professionals in allied fields, who by the specific nature of their work are uniquely qualified to make judgmental decisions concerning particular areas of television or media production. Examples of peer judges include: television and multi-media writers, producers, directors; programming, production and news executives; craft persons; advertising agency executives and creative directors involved in programming decisions; print journalists (who have hands-on television production experience); sports professionals; college university educators who represent journalism/film/television/media; former broadcast journalists, and media retirees.

To judge, teachers must either teach the specific crafts being judged, or have had professional experience performing the craft being judged. Writing newspaper or magazine columns, blogs, and/or articles about television or media does not qualify a person as a peer in any category. Television critics are not peers, unless they also have previous professional experience.

Whenever a current job title does not obviously qualify a judge as a peer, the judge should list, on the judge’s certification section of the ballot, his/her previous experience, which qualifies him/her as a peer for the programs or crafts being judged.

The success of the Emmy^® awards process depends on the willingness of qualified professionals to serve as judges. As stipulated by the Standard Rules, those persons entering the competition have agreed to serve as a judge, when asked. Each Chapter has the option, if they choose, to impose mandatory judging requirements.