The 2025 Poynter Journalism Prizes opened for entries on Monday, Jan. 6. The respected contest, which is in its second year being run by the Poynter Institute, honors distinguished reporting and writing from U.S.-based news organizations across all platforms, including digital, television, audio and print.
Organizations can visit the contest site to read the full rules and FAQs, as well as submit entries. The deadline for entries is 6 p.m. Eastern time Friday, Feb. 14. Entries cost $75 until Jan. 31, then increase to $85.
The contest awards 10 prizes, many of which have roots in contests that started more than 45 years ago to recognize the best in U.S. journalism. The categories include general excellence in writing, excellence in short writing, local accountability reporting, community service, justice reporting, diversity leadership, journalistic innovation, editorial writing, columns and commentary and work in service of the First Amendment.
“These prizes spotlight the important work that journalists are doing for their communities every day across America — exposing wrongdoing, holding power to account, telling gripping stories that touch and change people’s lives,” said Neil Brown, Poynter president and the chairman of the newly named Poynter Journalism Prizes Selection Board. The board, consisting of 14 distinguished journalists, will choose the winners of the prizes from finalists selected by category juries. The winners will be announced in April.
“Our goal is for the Poynter Journalism Prizes to become synonymous with journalism that makes communities stronger and serves truth and democracy,” Brown said.
For the first time in 2025, the winners will be chosen by a permanent Selection Board for the awards, featuring 14 distinguished journalists who serve two-year terms.
Last year’s winners included large metropolitan newspapers, local and national digital news sites, a small weekly newspaper in the Pacific Northwest and a local television station in Houston, among others. Poynter has written a series of stories about the 2024 prize winners, which can be found here.
Many of the categories have sponsors, who help provide the cost of a cash prize of $2,500 for each award (the First Amendment category bestows a $1,000 prize). Those sponsors are The New York Times, Advance Publications, The Seattle Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Dallas Morning News, the O’Brien Fellowship in Public Service at Marquette University and editors from the former Knight-Ridder company.
The contest moved to Poynter last year from the News Leaders Association, which decided to disband. Before the NLA ran the contest, the awards were part of the American Society of News Editors and Associated Press Media Editors contests.
Questions about the contest can be sent to poynterprizes@poynter.org.
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