The Scripps Howard Awards, one of the nation's most prestigious journalism competitions, will accept entries from Dec. 1 to Feb. 5 for journalism and storytelling produced during 2020.
The 68th annual Scripps Howard Awards competition, presented by the Scripps Howard Foundation and The E.W. Scripps Company, will award $170,000 in prize money for work across 15 categories.
The awards will be presented on April 21, 2021, with a virtual show hosted by Carolyn Clifford, anchor and reporter at WXYZ, the Scripps ABC affiliate in Detroit.
With a focus on high-impact and investigative reporting, the awards recognize journalism that inspires action, news organizations that go the extra mile to expose previously undisclosed or misunderstood information and journalists who embrace new approaches to provide more immersive experiences for their audiences.
The Scripps Howard Awards honor work from television stations, networks, radio and podcasts, visual media, online media outlets, independent producers, newspapers and other print publications.
Categories include Visual Journalism, Breaking News and Human Interest Storytelling. The annual Impact Award recognizes journalism that serves the public through coverage of an issue leading to changes in the public, private or business sector.
With an aim to recognize more impactful local reporting, the Scripps Howard Awards is introducing a new subcategory within the Investigative Reporting category this year: Investigative Journalism Local/Regional, honoring news organizations that address a region- or market-specific issue. The existing Ursula and Gilbert Farfel Prize for Investigative Journalism, offered in partnership with Ohio University, will honor excellence in reporting with national and international impact.
"In a year mired with change and conflict at the international, national and local levels, journalists have been there every step of the way to document it — from a historic pandemic and a divisive election season to societal unrest and demand for change," said Liz Carter, president and CEO of the Scripps Howard Foundation. "It's never been more important, more urgent, to recognize the contributions of journalists to our society. This year, the Scripps Howard Awards add a new category to recognize the important local and regional stories that have had tremendous impact and the dedicated journalists who are persevering to tell them in the face of unprecedented challenges."
Last year's winners represented newsrooms large and small, with the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News and ProPublica earning the Impact Award for "Lawless" — an ongoing reporting project focusing on sexual violence and breakdowns in law enforcement across Alaska.
Other 2019 winners included The Washington Post, The Seattle Times, FRONTLINE PBS, The Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina), Newsy and Bellingcat, NPR and The University of Maryland Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and The Public's Radio (Rhode Island).
Finalists will be announced March 9, with winners announced during the live, virtual awards show April 21.
Learn how to enter here: shawards.org.
