APPLY NOW: Investigative Reporting Prize Rules

The annual Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting honors investigative reporting that best promotes more effective and ethical conduct of government, the making of public policy, or the practice of politics. The winner receives $25,000, and five finalists receive $10,000. While the subject can address issues of foreign policy, a submission qualifies only if it has an impact on public policy in the United States at the national, regional or local level.

Financial support for the Goldsmith Awards Program is provided by an annual grant from the Goldsmith Fund of the Greenfield Foundation. The program is administered by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Text Submissions

Text material (newspaper, magazine, online news organizations) must be formatted as a PDF in one or two columns. Please include a page that displays how the information looked to the reader. You may include a URL.
View a sample of a 1-column formatted story
View a sample of 2-column formatted story
View a sample of an online entry format

Broadcast Submissions

Radio and television submissions should be entered as a URL and should also include a PDF of the transcript. Broadcast material must be available on a live URL that can be viewed using a standard web browser. Applicants are responsible for making sure the URL works outside of their organization. URLs must remain active during the contest period.

Rules and Information

Submissions will be accepted only from the U.S. news media. Newspapers, magazines, broadcast media and online news organizations are eligible. The judges encourage entries from small and mid-size publications and comparable broadcast outlets.

Each submission must include a one-sentence summary of the entry and a brief description of the actual or potential impact of the investigative report. In addition, one may include a brief description of how the story originated and comment on the reporting process.
Books will not be accepted as submissions for this prize.

Applications must be submitted online. Paper entries will not be accepted.
Click here to complete the online application form.

Many entries include a series of articles on a particular topic. Please limit your submission to no more than 10 installments, including sidebars.

No more than TWO entries may be made by a news organization.

No more than four names per team. If a team consists of more than four members, the entry should be listed as Staff.

Broadcast or publication must have occurred between January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015.
There is no entry fee.

Please contact Tim Bailey at the Shorenstein Center for more info: tim_bailey@hks.harvard.edu