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Entries now open for National Newspaper Awards

Wednesday 1 December 2021

Toronto, December 1, 2021 – The National Newspaper Awards has begun accepting entries for the 2021 competition.

Entries will be accepted in 22 categories between December 1, 2021, and January 15, 2022. Finalists will be announced in mid-March, and winners will be announced on Friday, May 6, 2022.

To be eligible, an entry must have been published first in 2021 by an eligible organization, with the work having been performed by an eligible entrant, as defined under the contest Rules of Entry. Rules can be viewed at http://nna-ccj.ca/rules/. Entry procedures can be viewed at http://nna-ccj.ca/tips-on-entering/. Categories can be viewed at http://nna-ccj.ca/entry-categories/.

As part of its ongoing commitment to make the competition more diverse and inclusive, the NNA Board of Governors previously announced changes to entry fees. Freelance journalists who enter the competition on their own, rather than having their work submitted by the eligible organization that published the work, will be charged $20 per entry, well below the regular fee of $50. Work submitted by digital news organizations, outside the traditional realm of newspapers, will also be charged at $20 per entry.

Organizations that participate in the NNA Benefactor Program will pay $40 per entry; traditional (non-digital) news organizations that do not participate in the program will pay $50 per entry.

The program is strongly encouraging eligible news outlets, from both the traditional newspaper realm and digital organizations, to submit the best work done in 2021 by journalists from equity-seeking groups, including BIPOC and LGBTQ+.

The 22 categories remain unchanged from the 2020 competition.

After opening for entries on December 1, categories will be closed to entries on a staggered basis, with final deadlines as follows:

  • Arts and Entertainment: Sunday, January 9
  • Beat Reporting: Saturday, January 15
  • Breaking News: Saturday, January 15
  • Breaking News Photo: Saturday, January 15
  • Business: Tuesday, January 11
  • Columns: Tuesday, January 11
  • Editorial Cartooning: Sunday, January 9
  • Editorials: Sunday, January 9
  • Explanatory Work: Tuesday, January 11
  • Feature Photo: Sunday, January 9
  • General News Photo: Thursday, January 13
  • International: Thursday, January 13
  • Investigations: Saturday, January 15
  • Local Reporting: Tuesday, January 11
  • Long Feature: Thursday, January 13
  • Politics: Thursday, January 13
  • Presentation/Design: Thursday, January 13
  • Project of the Year: Saturday, January 15
  • Short Feature: Saturday, January 15
  • Sports: Saturday, January 9
  • Sports Photo: Tuesday, January 11
  • Sustained News Coverage: Thursday, January 13

This is the 73rd year of the awards, which were established in 1949 to encourage excellence and reward achievement in daily newspaper work in Canada.

For more information, contact:

 

Paul Woods, Executive Director

National Newspaper Awards

exec@nna-ccj.ca

 

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Journaliste de l’année 2024 : Aaron Beswick

2024 Journalist of the Year: Aaron Beswick

View the 2024 Winners and Finalists
View the 2023 Presentation

Key Dates

December 1, 2025 - Entries open
January 15, 2026 - Entries close
April 24, 2026 - Awards Gala

Thanks to our Sponsors and Benefactors

Postmedia
The Globe and Mail
Torstar
La Presse
FP Newspapers Inc.
The Canadian Press
Glacier Media
Cision
Toronto Press Club

Named Awards

John Honderich Award for Project of the Year
Sponsored by the Honderich family

George Brown Award for Investigations
Sponsored by The Globe and Mail

John Wesley Dafoe Award for Politics
Sponsored by Ron Stern

E. Cora Hind Award for Local Reporting

Bob Levin Award for Short Feature
Sponsored by The Globe and Mail

Joan Hollobon Award for Beat Reporting
Sponsored by The Globe and Mail

Claude Ryan Award for Editorial Writing
Sponsored by Le Devoir

Mary Ann Shadd Cary Award for Columns

William Southam Award for Long Feature
Sponsored by the Fisher, Bowen and Balfour families

Norman Webster Award for International Reporting
Sponsored by the Webster family

Stuart M. Robertson Award for Breaking News
Sponsored by Paul and Lauraine Woods

Geoffrey Stevens Award for Sustained News Coverage
Sponsored by the family and friends of Geoffrey Stevens

Contact Us

Executive Director: Anne Marie Owens
exec@nna-ccj.ca

Program Director: Mariana Soares
info@nna-ccj.ca
438-366-1201

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Nouvelles/News

  • National Newspaper Awards announce new prize for journalism innovation
    Tuesday 28 October 2025
  • Mariana Soares to join National Newspaper Awards as program director
    Thursday 12 June 2025
  • Toronto Star wins Project of the Year for Alice Munro coverage
    Saturday 26 April 2025
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