Submit your work to the 2023 Online Journalism Awards

Stefanie Ritoper of KPCC/LAist holds a trophy at the 2022 Online Journalism Awards on Sept. 24, 2022, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Diana Henderson for the Online News Association)

The 2023 Online Journalism Awards (#OJA23), the leading global awards honoring excellence in digital journalism since 2000, are now accepting submissions.

The 2023 OJAs feature 58 awards across 23 categories. In all categories, judges will consider the quality of the journalism, digital innovation and the overall impact on the intended audiences and society at large.

Entries are due May 25 at 11:59 p.m. EDT (UTC-4).

Much like the web and journalism, the OJAs evolve each year. For 2023, new and updated categories include:

• Excellence in Technology Reporting: This award recognizes excellence in digital journalism focusing on coverage of technology. Entries in this category may address all aspects of technology including culture, policy and economic impact. Entries can include investigations, analysis and profiles.
• Topical Reporting: Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Identity: This award recognizes excellence in digital journalism that covers race, ethnicity, gender and identity. Entries in this category may address all aspects of the topic, including politics, the work place, health, safety, lifestyle and economic impact. Entries can include investigations, analysis and profiles.
• Sports, Health and Wellness: This category honors excellence in online journalism covering all aspects of sports, health and wellness. Entries may cover topics such as professional or amateur sports and sporting events, profiles, analysis of health and wellness trends and research and investigations.
• Excellence in Immersive and Emerging Technology Storytelling: This award honors exceptional efforts in telling stories through digitally focused immersive media and emerging technology. This can include storytelling that uses virtual reality, artificial intelligence, AI chatbots, augmented reality, mixed reality, 360 video or other emerging media.
• Excellence in Audio Digital Storytelling: This category has been expanded to include a new subcategory honoring a continually published podcast or audio work focused on daily and weekly current events and news.
• Online Commentary: This category has been expanded to include two new subcategories honoring personal narratives and a package of columns.

EXPLORE ALL CATEGORIES AND SUBMIT ENTRIES BY MAY 25

Cash prizes

Four of the awards come with prize money totaling $32,000, courtesy of 3M, the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, and McKinsey Publishing. These awards honor science reporting, community-centered journalism, investigative data journalism and climate change reporting.

Eligibility

The 2023 OJAs are open to work published between June 1, 2022, and May 25, 2023. Review the Rules and Eligibility in full before starting a submission.

High-school and undergraduate students may submit entries for the Student Journalism Award, while graduate students may submit to all other categories.

Micro newsrooms, organizations with 15 or fewer employees, are invited to submit projects at the highly discounted fee of $50 per entry. For all other projects, entry fees are $125 when submitted by ONA members and $200 for non-members. Student fees are $15 and $30 for members and non-members, respectively.

Tip: ONA members receive a discount on entry fees. Join ONA or check your membership status.

Selection process and call for screeners

A global group of more than 150 digital media professionals serve as volunteer screeners to kickstart the two-step selection process. Screeners review all entries to discover the best work and select semi-finalists. In July, panels of judges convene to select finalists and winners.

Applications to volunteer as a screener are open now through May 25.

LEARN MORE ABOUT VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

The ONA community will celebrate selected award finalists and winners at the 2023 Online Journalism Awards Ceremony and Banquet on Aug. 26 in Philadelphia, the closing event for the 2023 Online News Association Conference (#ONA23).

To learn about the latest training opportunities and resources from ONA, subscribe to the ONA Weekly newsletter and follow us on Twitter @ONA.