awards
Shining a Light on Hidden Issues
- Prison news uncovers the realities and challenges of life behind bars, raising awareness about overlooked social, legal, and human rights issues.
Elevating Prison News Media
The American Penal Press Contest celebrates ambitious achievements by prison newsrooms across the US.
After a more than 30-year hiatus, the Pollen Initiative is reviving the contest in partnership with Southern Illinois University (SIU), which created the awards program in 1965 and administered them until 1991.
The Penal Press Contest played an important role in supporting the American prison press during its freest and most prolific period. It honored the efforts of incarcerated writers working with few resources, and turned public attention towards new kinds of prison coverage. At the contest’s height, in the 1970s, it attracted more than a thousand submissions a year.
The updated award program also aims to strengthen the prison press by shining a light on its strengths, and to build common ground between the prison press and the outside journalism industry.
Prizes will be awarded in 13 categories, including awards for individual stories as well as for individual publications, writers, newsroom leaders and advisors. Each first-place winner— individual person or newsroom— will be awarded $1,000, with prizes of $500 and $250 awarded to second and third place entries.
Winners will be announced in a live-streamed award ceremony in September. There are no fees to enter.
Why These Awards Matter
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