The Corporation for New Jersey Local Media is seeking nominations for the fifth annual New Jersey Journalism Impact Awards. These awards seek to recognize established and emerging forms of journalism that address community and civic needs. Five journalism awards will be given this fall at our Byrne Kean Dinner to journalists whose in-depth reporting uncovered important information about critical issues that the public would not have known without their work. Nominations for the Lifetime Achievement Award are closed. Nominations for all other categories are due by September 30th.

Award Categories

• The Statewide Impact Award will recognize the best story, series of stories, or project that illuminated an issue or issues of statewide importance in New Jersey for the general public that may otherwise have gone unnoticed.
• The Local Impact Award will be awarded for a story, series of stories, or project that illuminated an issue or issues for the general public at a local or regional level in New Jersey that may otherwise have gone unnoticed.
• The Impact in High School Student Journalism Award will be awarded for a story or stories, published or broadcast during the 2024-2025 school year by a high school student, that illuminated an issue or issues of importance to the high school community in New Jersey.
• The Impact in College/University Student Journalism Award will be awarded for a story or stories, published or broadcast during the 2024-2025 school year by a college/university student, that illuminated an issue or issues of importance to the college community in New Jersey.
• The Lifetime Achievement Award in New Jersey Journalism will be awarded to a nominee whose career in journalism, whether it began in New Jersey or was focused on the state, has been characterized by excellence in reporting and whose work enhanced the civic engagement and public knowledge that is critical to a democratic society.

Eligibility

• Stories that were published or broadcast, either in print or online, between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025 are eligible for nomination for the State Impact and Local Impact Award categories.
• Stories that were published or broadcast during the 2024-2025 school year by a high school or college/university student are eligible for nomination for the Impact in Student Journalism Awards.
• Journalists who have started or have spent a significant amount of their careers in New Jersey are eligible for nomination for the Lifetime Achievement Award in New Jersey Journalism.