The final deadline is Mar. 1, 2024, 5 p.m. ET. There will be no extensions provided, and the system will automatically prevent entry submission after the deadline.
- Early-bird discount for entries submitted by 1 p.m. ET, Jan. 24, 2024.
- Members: $30 ($15 for Student category)
- Nonmembers: $55 ($25 for Student category)
- Regular entries submitted by Mar. 1, 2024, 5 p.m. ET, or earlier.
- $50 for members ($25 for Student category)
- $75 for nonmembers ($35 for Students category)
Not an AHCJ member? Now’s the perfect time to join. Join AHCJ today and save on your entry fee for each entry.
Payment must be submitted online by credit card in the amount of the total entry fee to be judged and must be received by the deadline for an entry to be considered.
Go to healthjournalism.org/awards. Once we have announced the call for entries, the “Enter Online” link will go live. Follow the instructions to set up an account, fill out your entry form and upload your submission. The site also gives you an option of paying the entry fee online.
Applicants with entries originally published in languages other than English must also upload an accurate translation, along with a cover letter from the news outlet certifying the translation’s accuracy and the name and contact information of the translator.
You will need to fill out the online entry form and upload your supporting attachments.
The entry will ask for the following information:
- Date(s) this work was published or aired, and through which media outlet(s).
- The title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved. (Although the entry form limits you to listing the three main reporters, you may mention others who helped here.)
- Links to the story/stories online. If stories are behind a paywall, you may choose to provide the story in PDF form, or provide information on how judges can otherwise access the story/stories.
- Cover letters are optional, but recommended. Keep it short (maximum one page, 12-pt font) and use it to explain anything about the submission you’d want the judges to consider.
- Note: cover letters are required from applicants with entries originally published in languages other than English, certifying the translation’s accuracy and the name and contact information of the translator.
- (Student category only) If this work began in a class or school context, and was eventually published in a professional outlet, explain how that came to be.
- (Audio category only) Explain any edits made for time. (EXAMPLE: Explain that you are submitting a 20-minute portion of a 40-minute podcast)
- New in 2023: The contest committee will ask the following questions to help AHCJ understand more about the outlets that are represented among contest entrants and possibly tweak the Large and Small definitions we use in future years.
- Was the entry published by, or in collaboration with, an outlet that specializes in health or science?
- Yes
- No
- Which of the following best describes the outlet in which this entry was published?
- Print (newspapers, magazines, etc.)
- Broadcast (radio, TV, podcasts)
- Digital-only outlet
- A combination of outlets: please explain (free response)
- Other: please explain (free response)
- How many editorial staff (FTEs, or full-time equivalents) are at the outlet where your entry was published? (If your entry was produced in partnership with or received editorial input from other outlets, please count the number of FTEs across all participating outlets). Drop-down options:
- 1 to 30
- 31 to 50
- 51 to 75
- 76 to 100
- 101 to 200
- More than 200
- Other: please explain (free response)
The definitions for Large and Small depend on the number of editorial staff and the type of outlet that published or broadcast the entry. To determine the number of editorial staff, please consider the number of full-time equivalents, or FTEs, of the outlet where the story was published (and all collaborating outlets, if applicable.)
A news outlet’s editorial staff includes any and all editorial roles, including but not limited to: reporters, editors, producers, hosts, anchors, photojournalists, board or camera operators, show or podcast staffers, social media and community engagement staff, and newsroom or programming managers and supervisors.
If an outlet relies on part-time or contract employees, those employees should be included in the FTE count. (A half-time or quarter-time employee would count as 0.5 or 0.25 FTEs, respectively).
Any entrant may also choose to default into the Large division.
This year, the contest entry form will include additional questions aimed at better understanding outlet sizes among our entrants, so that we can continue to revise the Large and Small definitions going forward, with the goal of creating a level playing field for submissions from media platforms of all kinds and sizes, as well as collaborations.
Story examples listed under these categories are not meant to be exclusive. They are meant to give an idea of the types of stories that could fit within the categories.
Audio Reporting (Large and Small division): This category recognizes outstanding audio reporting on a health news event, topic or issue. Radio and/or podcast pieces are eligible. Judges will consider the creative and skillful use of audio storytelling techniques, as used in a story (or stories) to explain complex health topics, uncover or illuminate health problems and ideas, generate new insights or outcomes, or harness the power of writing and sound to engage listeners on issues of public significance. Applicants are invited to submit 1 to 5 audio pieces, assembled in one audio file, not to exceed 30 minutes in length. If the entry includes 2 or more pieces, they must address the same topic or news story, as discussed in the official rules.
Beat reporting (all sizes): An individual award for outstanding beat coverage aimed at showcasing the breadth and depth of the work. Judges will be looking for entries that include stories on a wide range of topics. Entrants may submit up to five stories, carrying a single byline. Only two stories may be from a series. The same stories may also be submitted in other categories. In the optional cover letter, you may explain more about your beat and the stories that comprise your submitted portfolio.
Health policy (Large and Small division): Stories that explore access to health care, medical quality and costs, and decisions about health care made by government, employers and other stakeholders. This category explores how policy decisions affect consumers, taxpayers, and businesses, often with a focus on government, which is a major source of funds for the health system through Medicare, Medicaid, the Department of Veterans Affairs and other programs. Government agencies, such as the FDA, also oversee much of this sector. Stories can encompass a wide range of topics including Medicare and Medicaid, health reform and the uninsured, and controversies over regulation of the health sector. Stories might also include examinations of medical care quality, underuse and overuse.
Public Health (Large and Small division): Stories that deal with health – often of a large population – rather than specific medical research or a specific individual. This category is for stories that examine efforts to protect, promote or analyze health in specific populations – from whole countries down to neighborhoods. Such stories may examine specific treatments, but not generally as the primary focus of the article. Topics might include whether communities have access to healthy foods, or the burdens of pollution, smoking rates or other health problems. Stories about the impact of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and asthma, could also fall under this category, as could stories about epidemics or bioterrorism. If the story is mainly about treatments or tests, it should be entered in a different category. If it’s about a community and a variety of generally non-medical interventions, it’s more likely to be a public health story.
Trade (all sizes): Articles from publications catering exclusively or primarily to specific groups, such as healthcare professionals, advocacy groups or organizations. Trade stories can also be entered in other categories. This category is not for publications or websites aimed at general interest audiences. Compared with articles written for the general public, the entries in this category may include more numbers and statistics, and more complicated technical and scientific terms. Previous contestants in this category have included Health Affairs, Modern Healthcare, EpilepsyUSA, ABA Child Law Practice, Oncology Times, Trustee Magazine, Hospitals & Health Networks, Physicians Practice and TheHeart.org.
Business (all sizes): Stories that explore where money and medicine intersect. This category could include coverage of hospitals, medical groups, insurers, employers, health technology, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical device makers and the rising cost of medical care. Submissions in this category are likely to have a follow-the-money element and focus on the industry or the economics of delivering health care. What is the cost of the new treatment, test, drug or procedure, not only to individual patients, but to society?
Investigative (Large and Small division): Stories that shed light on things the public should know. This category may include single stories or a designated series on the same topic. There is a wide variety of areas that could be submitted in this category, including investigations of problems at local hospitals or nursing homes, under-the-table agreements, troubles with medical devices or drugs, disparities in how medical care is provided to different communities, trafficking in counterfeit drugs, lax oversight of licensed medical professionals and other problems.
Consumer/Feature (Large and Small division): This category is for submissions aimed at explaining complicated health care topics to a general audience. Stories could include those that delve into difficult issues involved with health care, such as how far to go with end-of-life care, the cost/benefit tradeoffs of new treatments or drugs or heart-rending first-person stories about facing life with Alzheimer’s or other medical conditions. The category also covers stories that assist consumers in navigating the health care system, from selecting a Medicare plan to appealing an insurance company denial.
Student Reporting: Entries must have been produced by students in high school, undergraduate or graduate programs for a class, a student-led publication, or a university-based outlet. If a story was later published or broadcast by a professional outlet, the work should first have been conceived and reported as part of a class, a student-led publication, or a university-based outlet. Students who produced work for a professional outlet as a freelancer, intern or employee should enter work produced while in that role in the other contest categories.
Categories marked “all sizes” will seek the best work in that topic category regardless of outlet size.
Categories denoting “Large division and Small division” will judge work in that topic category against work from similar-sized outlets.
A detailed explanation of how to determine whether your entry qualifies for the Large or Small division is included in the rules. The same information is provided in the flow chart.
The changes made to the Large/Small definitions are informed by feedback we received from past AHCJ contest entrants, combined with information that members of the AHCJ contest committee gathered about other journalism contests. We spoke with contest administrators from other journalism organizations to learn how they’ve adjusted size definitions over the years to better align with the realities of the current media landscape.
The contest committee learned that what constitutes a large (i.e., well-resourced) broadcast outlet is different from what constitutes a large, similarly well-resourced, print or digital outlet. We found other journalism contests that define size based on editorial full-time equivalents, or FTEs, consider print/digital outlets with fewer than 100 FTEs to be on the small side. But such a cutoff would not create a distinction between broadcast outlets that are less well-resourced and those that are more well-resourced, relatively speaking, and as such, journalism contests that accept broadcast entries and define size by FTEs tend to set the cutoff for what constitutes a Large outlet much lower. We landed at a Large definition of >100 FTEs for print/digital outlets and >50 FTEs for broadcast outlets.
The exception: The FTE cutoff for outlets that specialize in health or science is 30 (meaning, a specializing outlet that has more than 30 FTEs is considered large, regardless of whether the outlet is print/digital or broadcast). This Large/Small cutoff is lower than the cutoff for both print/digital outlets and broadcast outlets. We felt this was necessary to account for the fact that outlets that specialize on the health/science beat have an editorial advantage over non-specialist outlets when it comes to competing in a health care journalism contest. In the past, we considered any outlet that specializes in health/science, regardless of size, to be Large. This new definition takes the relative amount of editorial resources into account, which the committee felt is a healthy compromise between our previous approach (default to Large) and our new approach, which takes into consideration editorial FTEs.
The committee will make adjustments, as needed, to the Large/Small definitions, as needed, in future years, based on data about FTEs that we gather during this year’s contest and other feedback we receive. To help with that effort, please answer the question on the entry form regarding FTEs to the best of your ability.
New in 2023: All entries may be submitted via URL to the story published online. You may choose to include an optional PDF that shows the printed publication of the entry. Entries should be submitted in .MP3 or .WAV format. Video entries should be submitted in .FLV, .MOV, .MP4 or .WMV formats. If submitting a series, audio or video should not exceed 60 minutes total.
Yes. Trade stories can be entered in the Trade category or other categories, but you must choose one category for any given story — the only exception is for Beat Reporting. But note that if you enter a trade story in one of the size-divided categories, your entry must reflect the size of your publication. Joint collaborations between trade and other types of publications cannot be entered in the Trade category.
In general, no. An article or series can be entered in only one category. The exception: stories entered in the Beat category can be entered in other categories. Also, if two organizations collaborate on a story or project, they should also coordinate their entry so that only one version of that entry is received.
If you work primarily for a single paper and your chain picked up the story after it ran in your paper, you would enter the size division reflecting the size (in editorial FTEs) of the paper where you work. If the story was specifically written to be used by the entire group of papers, you would total up the number of editorial staff at all outlets involved. If the number exceeds 100, the entry would fall into the Large division. Entrants may also choose to default their entry into the Large division.
The exception: if any of the collaborating outlets specialize in health or science, then if the number of editorial FTEs exceeds 30, the entry falls into the Large division.
If you work primarily for a single local station and other stations picked up the original story after it aired on your station, you would enter the size division reflecting the size (in editorial FTEs) of the station where you work. If the story was specifically written to be shared among a group of stations, you would total up the number of editorial staff at all outlets involved. If the number is 50 or more, the entry would fall into the Large division. Entrants may also choose to default their entry into the Large division.
The exception: if any of the collaborating outlets specialize in health or science, then if the number of editorial FTEs exceeds 30, the entry falls into the Large division.
A maximum of three individuals may be named. If there are more than three significant contributors to the work, the entry should be submitted in the name of the news organization or collaborating outlets.
The beat reporting category is an individual award.
AHCJ awards only one prize for each winning entry.
Yes. One individual with an outlet can create an online entrant account, then create one or more entries for the work done by one or more staffers.
At this time, the contest does not include a category for health books.
No. Only specific articles from newsletters may be entered.
Cover letters are optional, but recommended. Keep it short (maximum one page, 12-pt font) and use it to explain anything about the submission you’d want the judges to consider.
A cover letter is required if you are submitting a translated article; the letter must certify the translation’s accuracy and the name and contact information of the translator.
As part of its effort to help members produce better stories, AHCJ gathers examples of good health journalism to show members. All entrants must check the box granting AHCJ permission to use the work for educational purposes.
Entries for each category will go through an initial screening round with judges working in pairs. Selected entries from that round will then go through a second round of judging to select winners. Judges’ comments on winning entries will be read at the awards ceremony and be posted on the website. Remarks on non-winning entries will not be made public
You can enter in either category, or in both categories. But please note that the categories differ significantly in emphasis and what judges are looking for:
Beat Reporting is only for a single reporter and asks for a “representative sample” of work, to showcase breadth, depth and a variety of covered health topics. (In keeping with this, only two of five submissions for Beat Reporting may be from a series.)
In contrast, Audio Reporting is open to a single reporter or a team, and focuses on the use of audio storytelling craft for reporting on one story, health topic or investigation.
An entry in Audio Reporting can consist of just one powerful radio piece, or podcast episode. Although up to 5 audio pieces or elements may be submitted, it must be clear to the judges that the pieces address the same news topic, health issue, medical institution or person. (EXAMPLE: an audio entry could focus on a hospital scandal, and include a spot (on the breaking news), features (explaining the players, the causes, or the local impact) and a longer narrative feature or podcast episode (telling the story in narrative form, or following up with an investigation). But the entry should not be a wide-ranging set of stories under the umbrella concept of “hospitals” or “COVID.”)
In addition to uploading an audio file, entrants may provide links to web pages housing the original radio stories or podcast episodes that include online text, photos or graphics, but judging for this category will primarily focus on the submitted audio entry.
First-place winners earn $500 and a framed certificate. They also receive complimentary lodging for two nights and registration for the annual conference. First-place winners will be recognized at the conference. If there is more than one entrant on the award, it is up to these winners to divide any prize. Lodging will only be covered for one individual in each category. Second- and Third-place winners will also receive certificates and be recognized at the annual conference.
If you have questions that aren’t addressed in the rules/FAQ, please e-mail contest@healthjournalism.org.
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