Contest

2026 Journalist of the Year nominations now open!

Every year, the San Diego Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists honors a local reporter whose work has had a major impact on our San Diego community. We’re now accepting nominations for the 2026 Journalist of the Year.

To nominate someone, please email spjsandiego@gmail.com by noon on May 4. 

Please include the following in your nomination: the person’s name, their outlet, and their contact info, as well as a description of why they deserve the award. 

When nominating someone, please also include links to at least three of their most powerful stories published in 2025. Please include at least four sentences about why this person should be considered for the award. Be sure to make your case. Persuade us why this reporter deserves this year’s award. 

Recent awardees include inewsource’s Sofía Mejías Pascoe, who covers immigration, and Voice of San Diego’s Lisa Halverstadt, who was awarded the honor in large part due to her coverage of homelessness. 

Here’s a complete list of our Journalist of the Year winners, dating back to 2013:  

  • 2025 – Sofía Mejías-Pascoe (inewsource)
  • 2024 – Lisa Halverstadt (Voice of San Diego)
  • 2023 – Kelly Davis (freelancer for The San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • 2022 – Vicente Calderón
  • 2021 – Paul Sisson (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • 2020 – Claire Trageser (KPBS)
  • 2019 – Jean Guerrero (KPBS)
  • 2018 – Andrew Keatts (Voice of San Diego)
  • 2017 – Morgan Cook (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • 2016 – Mario Koran (Voice of San Diego)
  • 2015 – Jeff McDonald (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
  • 2014 – Mark Sauer (KPBS)
  • 2013 – Loren Nancarrow (CBS 8)

The winner will be announced along with our other awards in May and celebrated at our awards reception in June. More details on the ceremony to come!

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING NOMINATIONS IS NOON ON MAY 4!!

0 CommentsLeave a comment

SPJ San Diego 2026 contest IS OPEN!!

The 2026 SPJ San Diego Area Journalism Contest is open!

The contest recognizes outstanding work by San Diego and Tijuana area students and professional journalists who published or broadcast during the 2025 calendar year.

The contest officially opens on Monday, Feb. 09, 2026.

The Early Bird entry deadline is Monday, March 2, 2026, at 9 p.m. PST. Starting Tuesday, March 3 entry fees will increase. The final deadline is Monday, March 9, 2026, at 9 p.m. PST.

Between March 3 and the final deadline of March 09, at 9 p.m. PST, professionals pay an additional $15 per entry, and students pay an additional $5 per entry, making them $30 for SPJ members, $50 for nonmembers and $10 for students. (NOTE: Top awards have a different entry fee amount.)

Last year, we added a new division: Spanish Media. Spanish entries in select print (daily, non-daily and online combined) and video categories will be judged only against other Spanish language entries. They are not to be entered in any other divisions. Spanish division fees are $10 per entry, regardless of SPJ membership status, until March 2. Starting March 3, the fee will be $20 per entry.  This division is meant to be for work created in Spanish, not Spanish translations of work created in English.

This year’s Distinguished Coverage Award topic is “ICE, Immigration Enforcement and Deportations.” This topic may have been completed by a single reporter or a reporting team at the outlet. The topic includes — but is not limited to — coverage of ICE and deportations, particularly those affecting individuals who show up to their appointments. It can also include how enforcement actions rippled through border communities and major immigration incidents (i.e. protests, courtroom clashes and high-profile ICE raids), etc. Each outlet should submit its best stories, series or show(s). Entries are limited to no more than five components (i.e. stories, segments). Entries must also include an essay of no more than 500 words on why the coverage merits recognition. Open to all outlets. Entry fee is $55. Outlets may make multiple entries if they are by different teams/reporters. 

Submit your entries using the BetterBNC Media Awards platform. To register or enter the contest, open a new browser window or tab to http://www.betterbnc.com. Keep this window open to refer to as you submit your awards.

If you have entered awards in BetterBNC before — either for the SD-SPJ contest or for the SD Press Club Awards — you should already be in the system. You just need to select the 2026 SPJ Awards contest.

All contest entries must be submitted online via BetterBNC and must be entered by or on behalf of the individual(s) who produced the work and must identify each individual involved in producing the work.

Students: This year’s scholarship contest will be run separately from the San Diego and Tijuana area competition. Please stay tuned for additional information to be posted later.

Below are directions for preparing and submitting entries. If you have questions, please contact sdspjcontest@gmail.com.

Good luck!

2026 SPJ CONTEST GUIDELINES FINAL.docx (1)Download
2026 SPJ San Diego How to Enter (2).docxDownload
2026 SPJ San Diego FAQ (1).docxDownload
spanish-instructions-final (1)Download
0 CommentsLeave a comment

San Diego SPJ 2026 Contest Schedule

Hello all! We hope you had a wonderful time at the holiday party and some relaxing time off with family. We are getting ready to kick off our 2026 San Diego SPJ Contest and we have some key dates for you to mark down. The dates are subject to change as we work our way through the contest. We will keep you updated as these dates get closer.

While you’re waiting for the contest to open, this is a great time to get together your favorite pieces from 2025 AND become a member with SPJ because you can save a ton of money on entry fees.

📣 Monday, Feb. 9 — Contest opens

🐦 Feb. 9 – March 2 — Early bird pricing (3 weeks)

⏰ March 2 – March 9 — Regular pricing

🏆 May 18 — Winners announced

🎉 June 25 — Awards ceremony

0 CommentsLeave a comment

The San Diego and Tijuana Area Contest Is Open!

It’s time!!!

The San Diego Area Journalism Contest is now open!

The contest recognizes outstanding work by San Diego and Tijuana area students and professional journalists who published or broadcast during the 2024 calendar year.

The contest officially opens on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025.

Early Bird Contest entries will be accepted until Monday, March 3, at 9 p.m. PST. Entry fees are per entry, regardless of the number of journalists on the entry. SPJ San Diego Pro Chapter members pay $15 per entry, non-members pay $35 per entry, and students pay $5 until March 3.

Between March 4 and the final deadline of Monday, March 10, at 9 p.m. PST, professionals pay an additional $15 per entry, and students pay an additional $5 per entry, making them $30 for SPJ members, $50 for nonmembers and $10 for students. (NOTE: Top awards have a different entry fee amount.)

This year, we’ve added a new division: Spanish Media. Spanish entries in select print (daily, non-daily and online combined) and video categories will be judged only against other Spanish language entries. They are not to be entered in any other divisions.

This year’s Distinguished Coverage Award topic is “infrastructure challenges in the face of climate change.” This topic may have been completed by a single reporter or a reporting team at the outlet. The topic can include but isn’t limited to — the environmental impacts on San Diego, such as the January 2024 floods, coastal erosion, wildfires, etc. Each outlet should submit its best stories, series or show(s). Entries are limited to no more than five components (i.e. stories, segments). Entries must also include an essay of no more than 500 words on why the coverage merits recognition. Open to all outlets. Entry fee is $55. Outlets may make multiple entries if they are by different teams/reporters.

Submit your entries using the BetterBNC Media Awards platform. To register or enter the contest, open a new browser window or tab to http://www.betterbnc.com. Keep this window open to refer to as you submit your awards.

If you have entered awards in BetterBNC before — either for the SD-SPJ contest or for the SD Press Club Awards — you should already be in the system. You just need to select the 2025 SPJ Awards contest.

All contest entries must be submitted online via BetterBNC and must be entered by or on behalf of the individual(s) who produced the work and must identify each individual involved in producing the work.

Students: This year’s scholarship contest will be run separately from the San Diego and Tijuana area competition. Please stay tuned for additional information to be posted later.

Below are directions for preparing and submitting entries. If you have questions, please contact sdspjcontest@gmail.com.

Good luck!

0 CommentsLeave a comment