Award Guidelines

ELIGIBILITY

• All entries must have aired or been published during Calendar Year 2025.
• Entries can be submitted by an organization that holds a non-commercial broadcast license from the FCC (radio or television).
• Entries can be submitted by individual employees currently working at those organizations OR individual employees who worked at those organizations during calendar year 2025.
  • Individual employees submitting their own work must include the station name in addition to their name in the Award Plaque Name field of the submission form.
  • Individual employees submitting their own work must enter in the division of the station where the work was performed.
  • Note: Stations may have their own policies regarding award entries. Individual employees should follow their organization's guidance about submitting entries.
• Individuals who left an eligible organization during 2025 may submit work completed during their time at that station.
• Freelancers are eligible to enter and must include the station name in addition to their name in the Award Plaque Name field of the submission form. Freelancers will compete in Division A.
• Exceptions: The following categories are open to individuals and organizations not associated with an FCC-licensed station. Please see specific category instructions for eligibility details:
  • Interview Program
  • Narrative/Produced Program
  • Student categories - see Student Entries section for more detail

CATEGORIES

• PMJA awards categories are in two sections - Professional and Student. The full list of categories is detailed below these rules.
• Submissions are evaluated based on their quality and impact, regardless of their distribution platform. Categories that do not require broadcast on terrestrial radio are indicated as "any platform" in the directions.
• Time limits are specified for each audio category. Entries must be a continuous segment and may not exceed the stated time limit. Editing within the segment is not allowed.
• Entries may be submitted to multiple categories.
• There is no limit to the number of entries each entrant can make in each category.

DIVISIONS

Stations are divided into divisions based on staff size:

• Division A – 1-3 full-time news staff and freelance journalists unaffiliated with a public media station who have produced content for public media stations
• Division B – 4-7 full-time news staff
• Division C – 8-15 full-time news staff
• Division D – 16-29 full-time news staff
• Division E – 30 or more full-time news staff
• Independent Division - Independent producers and organizations creating audio programming for any platform (radio broadcast, podcast, etc.) - only eligible for Interview Program and Narrative/Produced Program. Independents will compete against Division A.

STUDENT ENTRIES

• Student entries can either be entered by:
  • the school where the work was completed
  • the public radio station on which the work aired or published
  • the individual student
• Student entries must meet the following criteria:
  • Produced by students while enrolled in high school, a two-year or four-year college or university, or graduate school.
    • Entries produced by a student while working as an intern in a professional journalism setting are eligible.
    • Students with any full-time professional journalism experience are ineligible.
    • A group entry that includes a contribution from someone with full-time professional experience are ineligible.
  • Broadcast or published on an eligible public media station. Class exercises that were not broadcast or published are ineligible.

GUIDELINES ON WHAT IS CONSIDERED LOCAL

• All work on the entry must be performed exclusively by the station staff.
• Work edited by an NPR or APM editor or produced by a network show producer would only be eligible to enter under Local Reporting for National Network categories.
• Entries produced by a local entity to be distributed by a national distributor (NPR, APM, etc.) will only be eligible for the Local Reporting for National Network categories (Example: a piece produced by a station to be aired on The World or a show that is distributed by NPR would not be eligible for local categories)
• A show or piece that is produced and aired locally and is then shared with other stations is allowed under the local categories. (Example: Local product that is distributed in its original form via PRX, a state network, or independently organized distribution is allowed)

JUDGING CONSIDERATIONS

Our volunteer judges will carefully review each submission, focusing on its overall impact and quality. To help them make the most of their time, please highlight the most compelling aspects of your work that best represent the category you're entering.

Our judges will evaluate submissions based on the following five criteria:

Public service value: Is this story offering something new? Does it appear to be something important to the community/region?

Quality of Journalism: Does the entry appear to be fair, accurate, and consider a number of perspectives?

Creativity/Innovation: Is there something that caught my attention – something beyond what I'd expect to hear when I turned on my radio/visited the website?

Technical excellence: Is the finished product well-executed? Be it audio/visual context, the quotes and cuts are clean, ambi is well mixed/art is well-suited for the story and the subject.

Writing: Is the script/copy concise, descriptive, and moves the story along effectively?

BECOME A JUDGE!

Dive deep into inspiring public media and uplift outstanding voices. Judging the PMJA Awards isn't just a task, it's a transformative experience. You'll connect with the community, learn from fellow judges, and sharpen your craft while helping choose the best projects.

Volunteer to be a judge! Visit https://www.pmja.org/volunteer-to-judge-the-pmja-annual-awards to learn more and sign up.

DEADLINE

Early Deadline: February 20, 2026 - Final deadline: March 6, 2026. The entry system will automatically close at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time the night of March 6.

Entries submitted February 21 - March 6 will incur a $10 late fee for each entry.

FEES

Note: please check your membership status and join/renew prior to submitting your entries if that is your intention.

• PMJA member rate: $65 per entry.
• Nonmember rate: $100 per entry.
• Student rate: $40 per entry.
• Entries after February 20: add $10 per entry

All payments must be made online or mailed with a postmark on or before March 6, 2026. If payment is not received within one week of March 6, entries will be disqualified.

For all first-place winners, one complimentary award plaque will be mailed (entrants will indicate their preference on the entry form).

Second-place winners will receive a certificate. Additional plaques (for first or second place) may be purchased at the winner's expense. Ordering information will be provided with your award notification.

PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS

• Payment is due at the time of entry submission by credit card or by invoice.
• If you are paying by check, print the entry fee page and send it, along with your check payable to PMJA to:
  PMJA Awards
  P.O. Box 838
  Sturgis, SD 57785

PMJA CONTEST CATEGORIES

2025 SPECIAL COVERAGE CATEGORY

Federal Policy, Local ImpactNew - This special category recognizes outstanding local journalism that provided insightful and informative coverage of federal policies and their impact on local communities. Open to entries designed for audiences across any platform. Audio elements time limit: 15 minutes; digital elements should highlight key URLs that emphasize public service value; no more than 10 URLs

BREAKING/DAILY NEWS

Breaking NewsNew – Coverage of an unexpected event during the critical first 24 hours that quickly mobilized to inform the community during a crisis—severe weather, breaking court decisions, public safety incidents, or other urgent situations. Open to entries designed for audiences across any platform. Submit one piece or multiple elements from your coverage. Time limit: 30 minutes

Newscast - One unedited newscast, produced on one of our four newscast days in 2025. Those dates were April 9, July 15, September 25 and November 4. Time limit: 10 minutes

Spot News – Best spot on any topic less than 2 minutes in length. Time limit: 2 minutes

REPORTING & STORYTELLING

Collaborative Effort - Recognizes the efforts by two or more local stations working together on a specific project or a public radio station working with another entity on a specific project. This category is open to formal collaborations, collaborations with other local entities, and to less formal collaborations. Collaborations will compete at the division of the largest station involved in the effort. Open to entries designed for audiences across any platform. If audio content is included, time limit: 30 minutes; no more than 10 URLs

Continuing Coverage - A series of stories covering an issue or event as it evolves over time. Time limit: 60 minutes

EnterpriseNew – A story or series of stories that demonstrates significant journalism that breaks new ground and/or approaches a story from a unique and compelling angle. Enterprise reporting goes deeper than daily reporting, providing fresh perspective, compelling voices, thoughtful analysis and clear and complete treatment of an issue or event. Time limit: 40 minutes

Investigative Reporting – A story or series of stories that uncovers facts that someone or some entity has tried to keep from public scrutiny or tried to reframe or misrepresent. These stories show excellence in documentation and use of data—whether through analysis, visualization, or both—and have impact or potential for impact and change. Time limit: 40 minutes

Series - A scheduled series of stories on one issue or topic. Time limit: 40 minutes

Use of Sound – One story that shows a creative and effective use of sound to help tell the story. Time limit: 15 minutes

Interview - One interview segment. May be part of a news/public affairs program. Time limit: 30 minutes

PROGRAMS

Documentary - A one-time stand-alone program that addresses one issue or topic designed for audiences across any platform, including radio broadcast and podcast. Time limit: 60 minutes

Interview Program - A stand alone program or one episode in a series focused on an in-depth interview with a compelling guest designed for audiences across any platform, including radio broadcast and podcast. Time limit: 60 minutes

Narrative/Produced Program - A stand alone program or one episode in a series in the traditional narrative or produced style designed for audiences across any platform, including radio broadcast and podcast. Time limit: 60 minutes

News/Public Affairs Program - One regularly scheduled episode of a news/public affairs program. Time limit: 60 minutes

FEATURES

Arts Feature – One feature for coverage of the arts. Time limit: 15 minutes

Climate/Environment Feature – One feature covering climate or the environment. Time limit: 15 minutes

Education Feature – One feature covering an education-related topic. Time limit: 15 minutes

Government and Democracy Feature – One feature on a topic related to government or democracy. Time limit: 15 minutes

Health/Medical Feature - One feature on a topic related to health or medicine. Time limit: 15 minutes

Human Interest Feature - One feature on a cultural or human interest topic. Hard news and investigative features do not belong in this category. Time limit: 15 minutes

News Feature - One feature on a news-related topic not specified in other feature categories. Time limit: 15 minutes

Science/Technology FeatureNew – One feature on a topic related to science, technology, or innovation. Time limit: 15 minutes

Sports Feature – One feature covering a sports or competition-related topic that is not play-by-play coverage of a specific event. Time limit: 15 minutes

BEYOND AUDIO

Audience Engagement - Any program or campaign that builds meaningful community connections through call-in shows, social media campaigns, email newsletters, community events, or innovative digital projects. This category celebrates community-responsive reporting—stories shaped by audience questions, reporting that involves community members as partners in storytelling, or coverage that directly addresses listener needs. Open to entries designed for audiences across any platform. If audio content is included, time limit: 60 minutes; no more than 10 URLs

Cross-Platform StorytellingNew - A story told across multiple platforms—web, social media, newsletter, video, or emerging formats—that demonstrates how different channels can work together to deepen understanding and reach diverse audiences. This category celebrates innovation in any format, whether that's short-form vertical video, interactive graphics, social media storytelling, or newsletter journalism. No more than 10 URLs

Digital Writing – One story that demonstrates outstanding online news-writing skills. The story may have accompanying multimedia components, but only the written story will be judged.

Video StorytellingNew – Stories told primarily through video, whether long-form documentary-style pieces, short-form social media content, or innovative video formats. Designed for audiences across any platform. Time limit: 30 minutes

Visual JournalismNew – Stories told primarily through photography, data visualization, interactive graphics, or other visual media beyond video. This includes static and interactive data presentations, photo essays, and visual investigations. Submit up to three examples on a single topic. No more than 10 URLs

LOCAL REPORTING FOR A NATIONAL NETWORK

Pieces that have been produced in conjunction with a national network will be allowed in the following categories. All entries to these categories will be judged against one another without regard to Division.

National Feature - One feature on a cultural or human interest topic. Hard news and investigative features do not belong in this category. Time limit: 15 minutes

National News Coverage – This category may include breaking news, news features, series or continuing coverage. Time limit: 60 minutes

PMJA STUDENT CATEGORIES

Feature - One feature on a cultural or human interest topic. Hard news and investigative features do not belong in this category. Time limit: 15 minutes

News Feature - One feature on a news-related topic. Time limit: 15 minutes

NewscastNew - One unedited newscast, produced any day of the year. Time limit: 10 minutes

Program - A stand alone program or one episode in a series in the traditional narrative style or an in-depth interview with a compelling guest designed for audiences across any platform, including radio broadcast and podcast. Enter the "most representative" episode in a series. Time limit: 60 minutes

Spot News – Best spot on any topic less than 2 minutes in length. Time limit: 2 minutes

Questions regarding the contest? Reach out to awards@pmja.org.