Here’s a list of current media and journalism awards, including deadlines for applying. If we’re missing any major awards, please contact Mark Glaser at mark [at] mediashift [dot] org, and we’ll add them to the list. Any Featured Awards are paid sponsorships.
MARCH 2016 DEADLINES & OPPORTUNITIES
White House Correspondents’ Association Awards
White House Correspondents’ Association
The White House Correspondents’ Association is presenting three major journalism awards at the annual dinner on April 30, 2016 to recognize distinguished reporting. The Merriman Smith Award ($2,500) recognizes presidential news coverage under deadline pressure, with separate awards for print and broadcast journalists. The Aldo Beckman ($1,000) recognizes repeated excellence in White House coverage, with a single award for either a print or broadcast journalist. The Edgar A. Poe Award ($2,500) recognizes excellence in coverage of news of national or regional significance, with a single award for either a print or broadcast journalist.
Deadline: Mar. 3, 2016
International Journalism Festival Scholarship Writing Contest
For the second year Amazon is pleased to launch the International Journalism Festival Scholarship Writing Contest. University students from across Europe aged 18-25 are invited to write an essay of 1.000 words or fewer about the topic ‘Journalism in the digital era‘. The five winning students will have their essays published by La Stampa, DWDL.de and El Pais during the week of the festival, and receive reimbursement of full airfare and hotel accommodation from Amazon so they may attend the International Journalism Festival in Perugia (06-10 April 2016).
Deadline: Mar. 4, 2016
SFJ Excellence-in-Features Awards
Society for Features Journalism
The 28th annual Society for Features Journalism Excellence-in-Features Awards honor the craft of feature storytelling and the people who do it for a living at news organizations and wire services. All entries – other than those in the Best Features Website, Digital Channel or App category –must have been published in print or online between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2015.
Deadline: Mar. 4, 2016
Meyer “Mike” Berger Award
The Columbia Journalism Awards
The Meyer “Mike” Berger Award and its $2,000 cash prize are awarded for outstanding human interest reporting across platforms. Print, radio, broadcast and digital reporting are eligible for the award. All entries must have been published in the U.S. during 2015, though in the case of a series or ongoing story, work that appeared in January 2016 will be accepted. Journalists who report in a foreign language should submit copies of original stories with an English translation. No entry fee is required.
Deadline: Mar. 7, 2016
Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award
The Columbia Journalism Awards
The Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award was established at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 1959—during the heart of the civil rights movement—to honor Paul Tobenkin, The New York Herald Tribune reporter’s work and to recognize outstanding achievements in reporting on racial or religious hatred, intolerance or discrimination in the United States. The award honors the reporting of stories which ferret out instances of racial, ethnic, or religious discrimination. Authors may submit a portfolio of single pieces or a published series. The winner receives a $1,500 cash prize and an expense-paid trip to New York City to speak at Columbia’s “Journalism Day” ceremony.
Deadline: Mar. 7, 2016
Sunshine State Awards
Society for Professional Journalists
SPJ’s Florida Pro Chapter is pleased to announce the opening of Florida’s premier journalism contest — the 22nd annual Sunshine State Awards. The competition is open to all print, broadcast and online journalists in the state of Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Deadline: Mar. 7, 2016
Thomas L. Stokes Award for Best Energy Writing
National Press Foundation
Each year, the National Press Foundation presents the Thomas L. Stokes Award to a journalist for the best writing on the subject of energy. The Stokes Award was established in the spring of 1959 by friends and admirers of the late Thomas L. Stokes, the syndicated Washington columnist on national affairs. It is given annually for the best writing “in the independent spirit of Tom Stokes” on subjects of interest to him including energy, natural resources and the environment. The winner of the award receives $1,000 and a citation.
Deadline: Mar. 7, 2016
Hearst Journalism Awards Program
The Hearst Journalism Awards Program, was founded in 1960, to provide support, encouragement, and assistance to journalism education at the college and university level. The program awards scholarships to students for outstanding performance in college-level journalism, with matching grants to the students’ schools. The 56th annual program offering up to $500,000 in awards, consists of five monthly writing competitions, two photojournalism competitions, three broadcast news competitions (one in radio and two in television), and four multimedia competitions – with championship finals in all divisions.
Deadline: Mar. 8, 2016 for Personality/Profile Writing
Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia
Asia Society
Asia Society is currently seeking applications for the Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia. The $10,000 prize is awarded annually to a reporter or team of reporters who has produced the best example of journalism about Asia during the calendar year. Evaluation criteria include impact of the work, its originality, creativity, depth of research and educational value in informing the public about Asia.
Deadline: Mar. 13, 2016
Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting
The Luv u Project and the National Press Foundation
The Luv u Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about mental health, proudly announces the Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting, a $10,000 prize for exemplary journalism on this social issue. This Award aims to bring mental health to the forefront of news media. The Award features a partnership between The Luv u Project and the National Press Foundation (NPF). The NPF will administer the entire process and recruit a judges’ panel of journalistic excellence. The winner will be announced in May 2016 to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month.
Deadline: Mar. 15, 2016
Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Award
The Brechner Center
The Brechner Center sponsors an annual $3,000 cash award recognizing excellence in reporting about freedom of information, access to government-held information, or the First Amendment. Articles or a series of articles strictly related to these topics and published in a general circulation publication will meet contest eligibility.
Deadline: Mar. 15, 2016
Knight-Risser Prize for Western Environmental Journalism
Stanford University
The Knight-Risser Prize is given for journalism in any media that best illuminates an environmental issue or story in western Canada, the United States or Mexico. Entries are not limited to journalists from western news organizations. The Knight-Risser prize places a premium on stories that expose undiscovered or covered-up problems, explain detailed solutions in ways that can be put to use, and help readers understand the broader significance of the issues being covered, beyond the immediate details of the stories at hand.
Deadline: Mar. 15, 2016
Walter Sullivan Award for Excellence in Science Journalism — Features
American Geophysical Union
The award is presented annually to a journalist for a feature story or series in any medium except books that makes information about the Earth and space sciences accessible and interesting to the general public. The award consists of a plaque and a $5,000 prize.
Deadline: Mar. 15, 2016
David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism — News
American Geophysical Union
This award recognizes excellence in science news reporting, defined as work prepared with a deadline of one week or less. It is presented annually to a journalist for a news story or series in any medium except books that makes information about the Earth and space sciences accessible and interesting to the general public.The award consists of a plaque and a $5,000 prize.
Deadline: Mar. 15, 2016
The Cabot Prizes
The Columbia Journalism Awards
The prizes recognize a distinguished body of work that has contributed to Inter-American understanding. The Cabot Prizes Board and the dean look for exceptional and courageous reporting that impacts society, and evidence of commitment to important stories over the course of a long and distinguished career. They are particularly interested in hearing about journalists and news organizations that have made a sustained contribution to Inter-American understanding through their coverage of the Americas. The board and the dean are also interested in honoring those journalists who have taken active roles in upholding freedom of the press in the Americas. Although awards have been given to publishers and other managerial personnel, the board is especially interested in honoring individual journalists.
Deadline: Mar. 16, 2016
The Emmy Awards
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
The News & Documentary Emmy® Awards recognize outstanding achievement in broadcast journalism and documentary filmmaking. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences promotes journalistic excellence by awarding the coveted Emmy® to the very best news reports and documentary films aired on national television or streamed over the Internet each year.
Early Deadline: Mar. 16, 2016 (reduced entry fee); Final Deadline: Apr. 14, 2016
The MOLLY National Journalism Prize
The Texas Observer and Texas Democracy Foundation
The MOLLY Prize is a national print and online journalism award of $5,000 with two honorable mentions of $1,000 each to be presented by the Texas Democracy Foundation and the Texas Observer in memory of Molly Ivins. Judges look for pieces of great journalism that tell the stories that need telling, challenge conventional wisdom, focus on civil liberties and/or social justice and embody the intelligence, deep thinking and/or passionate wit that marked Molly’s work.
Deadline: Mar. 16, 2016
Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prizes for Reporting on the Presidency and on National Defense
Each year, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation awards two distinguished journalism prizes, one for reporting on the Presidency and the other for reporting on National Defense. These prizes, initiated in 1988, recognize reportorial excellence and the fostering of better public understanding of the presidency and national defense. Each year the two prizes are presented to the winners at a reception and luncheon in Washington, D.C. and include a $5,000 award, one for each prize.
Deadline: Mar. 18, 2016
APRIL 2016 DEADLINES & OPPORTUNITIES
SEJ Annual Awards for Reporting on the Environment
SEJ’s awards honor the best environmental journalism in seven categories, bringing recognition to the most important stories on the planet. TV, radio, print and online journalism about environment or related issues are eligible. $500 offered for first-place winners in seven categories.
Deadline: Apr. 1, 2016
Data Journalism Awards
Global Editors Network
The Data Journalism Awards recognize outstanding work in the field of data journalism worldwide.Launched in 2012, it is organized by the Global Editors Network, with support from the Google News Lab and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Previous winning organisations include The New York Times, The Guardian, ProPublica and La Nación.
Deadline: Apr. 10, 2016
Roche Health Journalism Award
Digital and radio journalists living in Latin America who covered health issues in 2015 are invited to compete. Roche Labs Latin America and the Gabriel García Márquez Foundation for a New Iberoamerican Journalism (FNPI) call for the fourth edition of the Roche Health JournalismAward.Entries may be submitted in two categories: Internet and radio. Works must focus on one or more of the following topics: innovation in healthcare, biotechnology and health,access to health treatments, research and development, public health policies and oncology.
Deadline: Apr. 10, 2016
Society for Features Journalism
The 28th annual Society for Features Journalism Excellence-in-Features Awards honor the craft of feature storytelling and the people who do it for a living at news organizations and wire services. All entries must have been published in print or online between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2015. The first-place winners in each of 19 categories will receive $300. Winners will be announced in June and honored at SFJ’s national conference in Austin, Texas.
Deadline: April 18, 2016
DEADLINES DOWN THE LINE
Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards
Columbia University
The award recognizes excellence in broadcast, documentary and digital journalism.
Asian Digital Media Awards
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
The awards honor Asian publishers that have excelled in their digital offerings.
LATAM Digital Media Awards
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
The awards honor Latin American publishers that have excelled in their digital offerings.
Middle East Digital Media Awards
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
The awards honor Middle Eastern publishers that have excelled in their digital offerings.
Online Journalism Awards
Online Journalism Association
The Online Journalism Awards (OJAs) was launched in May 2000 to honor excellence in digital journalism around the world. The 2015 OJAs entry period are open now and close mid-June.
Pulitzer Prizes
Columbia University
The Pulitzer Prize awards achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition.
Selden Ring Award
Presented by the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, the Selden Ring Award highlights the importance of investigative journalism in modern day reporting. Nominations are generally received in January.
Society of Professional Journalists Awards
The Society of Professional Journalists has various awards for professional to collegiate journalists for excellence in various forms of media. Awards are rolling and there are several with deadlines in June. Please check the site for more details.
The Bookmarks Awards
Digital Media and Marketing Association
The Bookmarks Awards, based in South Africa, honor excellence in digital work, from websites, app development and games to multimedia and digital journalism.
Webby Awards
The Webby Awards honor the best of the web, from multimedia to digital journalism to interactive publishing to online campaigns.
Ben DeJarnette is the associate editor at MediaShift. He is also a freelance contributor for Pacific Standard, InvestigateWest, Men’s Journal, Runner’s World, Oregon Quarterly and others. He’s on Twitter @BenDJduck.