Size Divisions
All categories, except the Collaborations category and the Eddie Prize, have divisions organized by the size of the newsroom(s) that produced the entry.
Entrants should calculate their newsroom size by counting all full-time-equivalent (FTE) editorial employees in the newsroom at the time the entry was produced. In addition to reporters, the calculation should include, among others: editors, designers, online producers and multimedia content producers, such as photographers, data analysts and videographers. Two half-time editors would be counted as one FTE. Freelancers should request the FTE from the outlet where their pieces were published.
EWA has added a new category for Collaborations among news organizations of varying sizes. In addition, because of the sweeping restructuring of the news industry, EWA reserves the right to shift the newsroom size cutoffs.
Media Formats
All awards categories, except the Audio and Visual categories, are open to media of any format. For example, a reporter cannot submit a print article to the Audio or Visual Category, but can submit in all other categories. Stories in audio and visual media can be submitted in all categories.
Prizes
The prize for category winners (except for the Eddie) is $1,000. If there is a tie, winners will split the prize.
Categories
Audio Storytelling: This category honors exceptional audio journalism on an education event, topic or issue. Each entry should consist of a single piece (or cohesive package or series) with a total listening time not to exceed one hour, including host intros All entries must include a transcript. Judges may consider originality, overall production quality, and innovative use of storytelling techniques.
- Smaller: <35 FTE newsroom employees
- Larger: 35+ FTE newsroom employees
Beat Reporting: This category honors individual reporters who demonstrate depth, breadth, persistence, imagination, sensitivity and responsibility in covering the education beat in any medium throughout the year. Entries will be judged for providing a range of stories, including breaking news, features, in-depth reporting, news blogging, and data analysis. Stories entered in the Beat Reporting category can also be entered in other awards categories. If you choose to do this, please don’t submit multiple stories entered in other categories to the Beat Reporting category. For example, don’t submit two of four stories that you entered in the News category to the Beat Reporting category. The maximum number of print or text entries is five pieces. Audio, video or multimedia entries can include more than five pieces, as long as the total run time of all pieces does not exceed one hour. For all entries, no more than one piece may have a byline shared with other reporters.
- Small: <25 FTE newsroom employees
- Midsize: 25-99 FTE newsroom employees
- Large: 100+ FTE newsroom employees
Collaborations: This is the first time EWA has offered a Collaborations category. This category honors partnerships among media organizations to produce high-quality coverage of an issue or story. Entrants should demonstrate how each partner contributed to the collaboration and offered essential value to the project. If the collaboration is between a national outlet and a local one, for example, then the local outlet might bring local knowledge and insight to the collaboration while the national partner might bring its deeper resources to provide valuable data analysis. Each entry should consist of a single piece, a cohesive package or series with no more than four parts, or a collection of pieces with total combined viewing or listening time of less than one hour.
- No newsroom size needed.
Features: This category honors excellence in human-interest reporting and presentation. Each entry should consist of a single non-breaking feature story; a package or series of no more than four pieces; or a collection of pieces with a total combined listening or viewing time of less than one hour. Examples include but are not limited to a profile, narrative or interview, focused on a single topic, event or general theme.
- Small: <25 FTE newsroom employees
- Midsize: 25-99 FTE newsroom employees
- Large: 100+ FTE newsroom employees
Investigative & Public Service: This category recognizes journalism that goes beyond routine reporting and fact-checking to uncover previously hidden or little-known information or wrongdoing. This category also recognizes journalism that makes a substantive contribution to the public’s understanding of critical issues and/or makes a demonstrable positive impact on individuals or a community. Judges will consider factors, such as relevance, clarity, enterprise and demonstrated impact. Judges also can consider factors, such as the difficulty of uncovering the information, the importance of the revelations, and the originality of the investigation. Each entry should consist of a single piece, a cohesive package or series with no more than four parts, or a collection of pieces with total combined viewing or listening time of less than one hour.
- Small: <25 FTE newsroom employees
- Midsize: 25-99 FTE newsroom employees
- Large: 100+ FTE newsroom employees
News: This category recognizes excellence in breaking news, revelatory reporting, and/or news analysis in any medium. Each entry should focus on a single news event. But the entry can look at a topic or issue through the lens of breaking news, and consist of a single piece, a cohesive package or series of no more than four parts, or a collection of pieces with total combined viewing or listening time of less than one hour. Besides the standard factors, judges in this category may also consider time constraints reporters faced in covering breaking news.
Visual Storytelling: This award celebrates exceptional visual reporting of any type. This includes, but is not limited to, journalism that relies heavily on videos, images, graphics, interactives or illustrations to inform the public about an important educational event, topic or issue. Entries don’t have to be exclusively visual and can accompany reporting presented in another medium. Entries may include complementary text or audio narrative, for example, but their primary focus should be visual storytelling. Judges may consider factors, such as technique, the appropriateness of medium choice, originality, design and overall visual excellence. Each entry should consist of a single piece, a cohesive package or series of no more than four parts, or a collection of pieces with total combined viewing time of less than one hour.
- Smaller: <35 FTE newsroom employees
- Larger: 35+ FTE newsroom employees
The Eddie Prize: This prize honors the best work by an eligible journalist on the challenges low-income students face getting into and/or completing college. Judges will evaluate the entries for ingenuity of reporting and trenchant analysis that uncovers, highlights or furthers the discussion about the challenges low-income students face, and problems or conditions related to their efforts to obtain a degree. Special attention will be paid to works that bring to life aspects of this issue that may not have previously come to the attention of the public. There are no size divisions for the Eddie Prize. The winner of this category will receive a $7,500 cash award.
Repeated Submissions
Any item submitted in one category may NOT be submitted in a second category, unless that other category is Beat Reporting or the Eddie Prize. However, the entire beat-entry package should not contain multiple stories submitted to any other category. For example, if you submit three stories to the News category, please don’t submit two or more of those stories to the Beat Reporting category.
Judging Criteria
Entries to the Education Writers Association awards contest will be judged on criteria that include quality of writing and reporting, freshness and depth of insights, clarity of explanation, and innovation and effectiveness of presentation.
Entrants
The EWA awards are limited to the work of professional journalists published, posted or aired by independent news outlets in 2022. Professional journalists are defined in EWA Bylaws, Article II, Section 1.1.
EWA staff is available to answer questions or concerns about the awards, including eligibility and the revised categories. Please email your queries to awards@ewa.org.
