Three years ago, the Center for Integrity in News Reporting launched a national journalism awards program with a straightforward premise: objective and impartial reporting deserves recognition. The response from journalists and newsrooms has been a tremendous success.
Entries for the 2025 awards cycle, which is the third year of the program, increased 213% over the prior year and 289% since the awards launched. Submissions arrived from journalists and news organizations in at least 35 states, including national journalism organizations from across the media landscape.
To every journalist and editor who submitted work: thank you.
A New Category, An Immediate Response
For 2026, CFINR added a sixth category: Impartial Investigative Reporting. The new award recognizes in-depth, fact-based accountability journalism that adheres to objective and impartial newsgathering standards.
The category drew nearly 100 entries in its first year. That response reflects something the industry already knows: investigative journalism at its best has always been grounded in the same core values CFINR champions.
What Comes Next
Judges are now reviewing submissions across all six categories. Finalists and winners will be announced and honored at a national gala in Washington, D.C. on May 19, 2026. Additional details about the event will be released in the weeks ahead.
The six award categories for 2026 are:
Each winner receives a $25,000 cash prize, for a total of $150,000 awarded across the program.
Stay tuned for winner announcements ahead of the May 19 gala. In the meantime, learn more about the CFINR National Journalism Awards at https://www.cfinr.org/awards
Questions? Contact info@cfinr.org.
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