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. Award descriptions are excerpts, edited for length and clarity.
FEATURED AWARD
Accepting Nominations Now for 2017 IWMF Awards: Recognizing Women Journalists Since 1990
The fight for media freedom has never been more critical. For 28 years, the IWMF has been highlighting the work of brave women journalists and honoring their contributions to press freedom around the world. Join the IWMF this year in recognizing essential and diverse voices by submitting a nomination for the Anja Niedringhaus Photojournalism Award – deadline March 1; and the Courage in Journalism and Lifetime Achievement Awards – deadline March 15.
Enter for Niedringhaus Photojournalism Award: bit.ly/AnjaAwards
Enter for Courage in Journalism and Lifetime Achievement Awards: bit.ly/IWMFCourage
FEBRUARY DEADLINES
SPJ National High School Essay Contest
SPJ wants to increase high school students’ knowledge and understanding of the importance of the Free Media to our lives. The top three national winners receive scholarship awards.
Deadline: Feb. 23, 2017
MARCH & BEYOND DEADLINES
International Women’s Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Award
The International Women’s Media Foundation’s Courage in Journalism Award honors women journalists for their extraordinary bravery. In facing and surviving danger to uncover the truth, they raise the bar for reporting under duress. The IWMF also recognize the pioneers who kicked down barriers to make it possible for women all over the world to find their voices and make them heard. Lifetime Achievement Award winners persevered, opening doors for future generations to make a difference.
Deadline: March 1, 2017
International Women’s Media Foundation Anja Niedringhaus Courage In Photojournalism Award
The Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award was created to honor the life and work of Pulitzer Prize-winning AP photographer and IWMF Courage in Journalism Award winner Anja Niedringhaus (1965-2014). With this Award, the IWMF celebrates the courage of women photojournalists like Anja. The Award recognizes the importance of visual journalistic work that inspires us to take action and compels us to better understand the world.
Deadline: March 1, 2017
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.
Deadline: March 3, 2017
IWMF Fund for Women Journalists
The Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists enables the IWMF to dramatically expand its support of women journalists. Promoting the work and advancing the role of women in the news media across the globe is critical to transparency and the diversity of voices.
Deadline: March 7, 2017
Data Journalism Awards
Global Editors Network
The awards is an international contest recognizing outstanding work in data journalism worldwide.
Deadline: April 7, 2017
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.
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.
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.
The Cabot Prizes
The Columbia Journalism Awards
The prizes recognize a distinguished body of work that has contributed to Inter-American understanding.
Mark of Excellence Awards
Society of Professional Journalists
The Mark of Excellence Awards honors the best in collegiate journalism. Judged at the regional and national level, the annual competition offers 51 categories in newspapers, magazines, photography, radio, television and online journalism.
Charlie Ericksen Internship Supplement
The NAHJ Washington, D.C. Chapter is now taking applications for the Spring 2017 Charlie Ericksen Journalism Internship Supplement. One internship supplement will be awarded to a student who is interning at a Washington D.C. Area news outlet.
Tribeca Snapchat Shorts
The Tribeca Film Festival and Snap Inc. are excited to bring back Tribeca Snapchat Shorts, now an official Festival category, created in an effort to discover visionary artists in the mobile space. This new category provides the perfect opportunity for people who are passionate about Snapchat and narrative storytelling to present their mastery of the smallest screen. The Festival and Snap Inc. are excited to support the next generation of storytellers and promote creativity on Snapchat.
New America Award
Society of Professional Journalists
SPJ’s New America Award honors public service journalism that explores and exposes an issue of importance to immigrant or ethnic communities currently living in the United States.
IWMF African Great Lakes Reporting Initiative
The IWMF designed the African Great Lakes Reporting Initiative to support journalists committed to pursuing stories that go beyond the well-established path of political instability, armed conflicts, and humanitarian crisis in the region.
NYU Journalism Reporting Award
The Reporting Award provides support of up to $12,500 for a work of journalism in any medium on significant underreported subjects in the public interest. In establishing the award, the Carter Journalism Institute’s faculty cited the need for encouraging enterprise journalism during a time of extensive layoffs and budget cuts throughout the journalism industry.
Bianca Fortis is the associate editor at MediaShift, a founding member of the Transborder Media storytelling collective and a social media consultant. Follow her on Twitter @biancafortis.