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
Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability
The National Center on Disability and Journalism is now accepting entries for the 2017 Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability, the only journalism contest devoted exclusively to disability coverage. Journalists working in digital, print and broadcast media are eligible to enter. Entries are accepted from outside the U.S., although the work submitted must be in English. Awards are given to individuals or teams, with prizes of $5,000 for first place, $1,500 for second place and $500 for third place. Judges also may award honorable mentions. Enter the contest here. Entries must have been published or aired between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017.
Deadline: July 31, 2017
JULY 2017 DEADLINES
2017 Future of Storytelling Prize
Immersive, narrative-driven projects have a chance to win $5,000. Submissions that may include, but are not limited to: virtual, mixed, and augmented reality; web-based, audio, and data-driven works; mobile apps; narrative games; multimedia installations; and multi-platform projects.
Deadline: July 7, 2017
International Documentary Association’s 33rd Annual IDA Documentary Awards
The IDA Documentary Awards recognize the best nonfiction films and programs of the year. Award recipients are announced at the IDA Documentary Awards in December in Los Angeles. Entry is open to any documentary, non-fiction or factual program that qualifies for one of the main award categories and is completed or publicly released between July 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017.
Deadline: July 7, 2017
Heroes of the 50 States: The State Government Hall of Fame
Annually, the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Freedom of Information Coalition recognizes such an individual — someone whose service, accomplishments and contributions have left a legacy at the state and local level.
Deadline: July 15, 2017
Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Business Journalism
Named for Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Don Barlett and Jim Steele, the contest celebrates the best in investigative business reporting. Sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism, the awards come with cash prizes of $5,000, $2,000 and $1,000.
Deadline: July 31, 2017
David Nyhan Prize for Political Journalism
For 30 years, David Nyhan was a columnist and reporter at The Boston Globe. The $2,500 Nyhan Prize honors a journalist who embodies David’s commitment to challenging the powerful and acting as a voice for those whose voices are seldom heard. The award is sponsored by the Shorenstein Center and is conferred at a ceremony at Harvard in November. Open to U.S.-based reporters and columnists. Previous prize winners are not eligible.
Deadline: July 31, 2017
DEADLINES DOWN THE LINE
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 Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative
Moment Magazine is launching a fellowship to support reporters pursuing investigative stories that address anti-Semitism, anti-Israel and other prejudices that threaten Jewish rights to dignity and self-determination. One grantee will be awarded $10,000 USD. Applicants will need to make the case for how their proposal addresses problems of anti-Semitism or anti-Israel prejudice in a new way or concentrates on an under-reported aspect of this issue.
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. awards one internship supplement, named after Hispanic Link News Service Founder Charlie Ericksen, 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.
Meyer “Mike” Berger Award
The Meyer “Mike” Berger Award and its $2,000 cash prize are awarded for outstanding human interest reporting across platforms.
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.
Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative to Expose Prejudice
DPIJI provides grants to journalists ages 22 to 38 to research and write in-depth stories about a modern manifestation of anti-Semitism or any other deeply engrained prejudice. Each year, Moment—with the help of an advisory board of journalists—selects one DPIJI Fellow, who receives $5,000 ($2,500 upfront and $2,500 upon publication) to produce a story.
IWMF Awards
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 Courage in Journalism.
Data Journalism Awards
The awards is an international contest recognizing outstanding work in data journalism worldwide.
The John B. Oakes Award
The John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism, which carries a $5,000 prize, is given annually for news reporting that makes an exceptional contribution to the public’s understanding of environmental issues. The award was founded in 1993 by family, friends and colleagues of Oakes (1913-2001), who was an environmental journalism pioneer and an editorial writer for The New York Times.
John Chancellor Award
The John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism, founded in 1995, is presented each year to a reporter with courage and integrity for cumulative professional accomplishments. The prize honors the legacy of pioneering television correspondent and longtime NBC News anchor John Chancellor.
Global Shining Light Award
Every two years, the Global Investigative Journalism Network presents the Global Shining Light Award, a unique award which honors investigative journalism in a developing or transitioning country, done under threat, duress, or in the direst of conditions.
NAHJ Ñ Awards
Six awards will be presented within the Print/Digital, Television, Photography and Radio categories. There will also be two Vanguard Awards – The Al Neuharth Award for Investigative Journalism and the NAHJ Elaine Rivera Civil Rights & Social Justice Award.
National Association of Hispanic Journalists Hall of Fame Award
Do you know someone who is making a difference for Latinos in journalism? Someone who’s coverage of the Latino community goes beyond the who, what, when, where and how? Maybe you know an educator who is grooming young Latino journalists into future stars?
Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism
Since its inception in 2002, the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund has sought to support those journalists Kurt most admired, the freelancers and local reporters whose work is often poorly paid, mostly unsung and all too often fraught with danger.
Ed Bradley Scholarship
Ed Bradley is best known for his award-winning work in 26 years on CBS News’ 60 Minutes and as the first African American White House TV correspondent. Bradley established the Ed Bradley Scholarship in 1994. Since then, 20 young, aspiring journalists have received the award created by the late CBS News and 60 Minutes correspondent.
RTDNA Undergraduate Scholarships
Scholarships are open to undergraduate students pursuing careers in radio, television, or digital journalism. Winners must be officially enrolled, full-time sophomores, juniors or seniors in good standing when scholarships are awarded for the 2017-2018 academic year.
Gli Occhi Della Guerra
Gli Occhi Della Guerra is opening its newsroom for those who dream of being a reporter. Contestants will have the chance to present their projects that they have never had the chance to develop. A panel of judges comprising of reporters, journalists, photographers will select the best two projects, to which all expenses will be covered and that will be published on the Italian online newspaper www.ilgiornale.it as well as on the website www.gliocchidellaguerra.it.
Robert D.G. Lewis First Amendment Award
From the generosity of the Lewis family, the award is given each year to a student SPJ member who has demonstrated outstanding service to the First Amendment through the field of journalism. The award assists a student with his/her attendance to SPJ’s annual convention.
Online Journalism Awards
The Online Journalism Awards (OJAs), launched in May 2000, are the only comprehensive set of journalism prizes honoring excellence in digital journalism around the world.
Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award
The Sigma Delta Chi Foundation presents the Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award to honor a person or persons who have fought to protect and preserve one or more of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.
Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship for Editorial Writing
The Eugene C. Pulliam Fellowship was established to enable a mid-career editorial writer or columnist to have time away from daily responsibilities for study and research.
TruthBuzz: The Viral Fact-Checking Contest
TruthBuzz, a new contest from the International Center for Journalists and the Craig Newmark Foundation, wants to encourage the viral spread of verified facts across cyberspace.The top three winners will receive cash prizes of US$10,000, US$5,000 and US$2,500, respectively.
Collaborative Reporting Project Open Call
Six reporting projects will be selected to win a $7,000 grant through the Collaborative Reporting Project. The Center for Cooperative Media is interested in hearing from local news outlets across the U.S., and are particularly interested in projects that include collaboration with technologists. The proposals should include original reporting.
Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards
The award recognizes excellence in broadcast, documentary and digital journalism.
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.
