ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (December 11, 2024) – The Poynter Institute, a global leader in journalism, is pleased to announce that 14 distinguished journalists have been named to the new Poynter Journalism Prizes Selection Board.
The board, which will be chaired by Poynter President Neil Brown, will choose the winners of the Poynter Journalism Prizes contest, which moved to Poynter in 2024 from the News Leaders Association. The 2025 contest opens on Jan. 6, and closes Feb. 14. It honors exceptional U.S. journalism in 10 categories, including public service, local accountability reporting, writing excellence, justice reporting, First Amendment work and more.
The Selection Board, whose members serve two-year terms, consists of accomplished journalists from across disciplines, including print/digital, radio, television and education. Several are winners of or finalists for the Pulitzer Prize and other notable awards and are veteran news industry reporters, editors and leaders.
“We’re grateful to have such gifted and experienced judges to choose the most important and impactful journalism to receive the Poynter Journalism Prizes,” Brown said. “We want these prizes to spotlight journalism that makes a difference in people’s lives. These journalists know that kind of work because they have done it. We are honored they are willing to give their time to this effort.”
The 2025 Selection Board members are:
Neil Brown, Poynter president and board chairman
Tracy Brown, chief content officer, Chicago Public Media
Stephen Buckley, Eugene C. Patterson Professor of the Practice of Journalism and Public Policy, Duke University
Eric Deggans, television critic/media analyst, NPR
John Dickerson, chief political analyst, CBS News, incoming co-anchor, CBS Evening News
Nicole Dungca, investigative reporter, The Washington Post
Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor in chief, San Francisco Chronicle
Katrice Hardy, executive editor, The Dallas Morning News
Tom Jones, senior media writer, Poynter
Kelly McBride, senior vice president and chair of the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, Poynter
Kathleen McGrory, editor, Local Investigations Fellowship, The New York Times
Sitara Nieves, vice president for teaching and organizational strategy, Poynter
Alexandra Zayas, deputy managing editor, ProPublica
Abbie VanSickle, Supreme Court correspondent, The New York Times
In 2024, Poynter’s first year with the contest, winners were chosen by a group of Poynter leaders and members of the outgoing board of directors of the NLA. Starting in 2025, the permanent Selection Board will choose the prize winners in 10 categories. The board will meet in April to decide among finalists forwarded by category juries.
Certain awards in the contest are sponsored by The Seattle Times, The New York Times, The O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism at Marquette University, the Chicago Tribune, The Dallas Morning News and Advance Publications Inc.
Questions about entering the contest or being a sponsor to support the contest should be sent to poynterprizes@poynter.org.
Media Contact
Jennifer Orsi
Vice President, Publishing and Local News Initiatives
Poynter Journalism Prizes contest director
Jorsi@poynter.org
About The Poynter Institute
The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit working to address society’s most pressing issues by teaching journalists and journalism, covering the media and the complexities facing the industry, convening and community building, improving the capacity and sustainability of news organizations and fostering trust and reliability of information. The Institute is a gold standard in journalistic excellence and dedicated to the preservation and advancement of press freedom in democracies worldwide. Through Poynter, journalists, newsrooms, businesses, big tech corporations and citizens convene to find solutions that promote trust and transparency in news and stoke meaningful public discourse. The world’s top journalists and emerging media leaders rely on the Institute to learn new skills, adopt best practices, better serve audiences, scale operations and improve the quality of the universally shared information ecosystem.
The Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), MediaWise and PolitiFact are all members of the Poynter organization.
Support for Poynter and our entities upholds the integrity of the free press and the U.S. First Amendment and builds public confidence in journalism and media — an essential for healthy democracies. Learn more at poynter.org.
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