Deadline:
March 01, 2025
Location(s)
Online United States of America
Overview
The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists were established in 1981 to recognize outstanding reporting and bolster the careers of journalists under the age of 35. For 40 years of the Livingston Awards have identified exceptional young journalists and the next generation of newsroom leaders.
Details
Each year, prizes of $10,000 each are presented in local, national and international reporting. Winners are selected by our panel of judges, who share a long-time commitment to our program and are highly respected for their achievements in journalism.
The Livingston Awards invites print, online, video, audio and data visualization entries.
Winning the award helps talented young reporters develop the confidence and the institutional backing to continue producing ambitious projects. National recognition leads winners to new stories, new audiences and new career opportunities. The distinguished names of past winners include David Remnick, Christiane Amanpour, Ira Glass, Michelle Norris and Steve Coll.
In addition, the Richard M. Clurman Award honors superb on-the-job mentors who improve journalism by exemplifying excellence in nurturing, critiquing and inspiring young journalists. The Clurman Award is presented alongside the annual Livingston Awards winners.
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Entry forms to submit work published in 2024 will open in November 2024.
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The deadline to nominate a journalism mentor for the 2025 Clurman Award is March 1, 2025.
Public Engagement with Livingston Winners
More than a prize, the Livingston Awards are a year-round program. Through our public engagement, winners train journalists at industry conferences and workshops and share their stories with audiences beyond journalism at speaking engagements arranged by the Livingston Awards. The Livingston Lectures, part of the Wallace House Presents event series, spark conversation and connect winners to communities affected by the issues exposed in the winning stories and elevate the role of a free press in a democratic society.
How It Started
Mollie Parnis Livingston, one of America’s first fashion designers known by name, established the Livingston Awards in 1981 to honor her son, Robert, who published the journalism review More.
Mollie loved the top young talent in the fashion business, and gathered them around her, a practice she later extended to journalists. To her delight, she realized that the awards were creating a journalistic “family” of considerable and growing distinction. Her prizes for young journalists recognized talent early and encouraged quality journalism—something both Mollie and her son Robert cared deeply about.
Richard Clurman, former Chief of Correspondents for Time-Life News Service, conceived of the awards with Mollie, and brought aboard Charles Eisendrath to design and implement the prize.
Support
The Livingston Awards are supported by the University of Michigan, the Knight Foundation, the Indian Trail Charitable Foundation, the Mollie Parnis Livingston Foundation, Christiane Amanpour, Dr. Gil Omenn and Martha Darling, the Judy and Fred Wilpon Foundation and individual contributions. The continued growth and stature of the program relies on philanthropic support from generous institutions and individuals. Learn more on how to support the Livingston Awards and the essential work of journalists.
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
Rules
- Entrants must be 34 years of age or younger as of December 31, 2024.
- Multiple bylines are eligible, but all must meet the age criteria.
- One entry per individual is accepted. One entry can be a single piece or a maximum of three pieces either from a published series, an original piece and its follow-up developments or three pieces clearly tied together in a beat. All pieces of the series must be published by the same organization.
- There is no limit to the number of entries that a media organization can submit, provided that they enter only one entry per reporter.
- Individuals may apply on their own, or be entered by their organization.
- Print, online, video, audio and data visualization work are eligible. Still photography is not eligible.
- The work must appear in U.S.-controlled media. Entrants are not required to be U.S. citizens.
- Entries must be directly related to current events or include new information about old events. Features and commentary are eligible.
- Submissions must consist of materials prepared in the ordinary course of the journalist’s professional production. Materials prepared by journalists specifically for submission to the Livingston Awards do not qualify.
- Student media completed solely as a class assignment or for a college or university publication is not eligible.
- Journalism produced by students and published by a media organization serving a general audience is eligible.
- Competition is limited to work published or appearing during the calendar year ending December 31, 2024.
- The Livingston Awards reserves the right to use any part or whole of any entered piece for publicity or educational purposes.
- Winners will participate in an outreach event arranged by the Livingston Awards.
- Note: We understand the collaborative efforts of many projects, especially video storytelling. At the same time, our objective is to recognize outstanding journalists under the age of 35. To ensure this, the preponderance of the work in the entry submitted should be the efforts of journalists under the age of 35. If the entry involves the work of others over the age of 34, a detailed description of the work responsibilities, breakdown and percentage of work each team member contributed to the project can be provided on the entry form.
Dates
Deadline: March 01, 2025
Cost/funding for participants
Prizes of $10,000 will be presented in three categories: local, national and international reporting. There is no entry fee. Prize money is paid directly to the journalists, not the media organization.
Un-save Opportunity
Internships, scholarships, student conferences and competitions.
