The National Center on Disability and Journalism (NCDJ) is home to the Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability and the Gary Corcoran Student Prize for Excellence in Reporting on Disability.
The professional prize – the only national journalism award devoted exclusively to disability coverage – is supported by a gift from Katherine Schneider, a retired clinical psychologist. Schneider, who has been blind since birth, established the award to help journalists improve their coverage of disability issues, moving beyond “inspirational” stories that don’t accurately represent the lives of people with disabilities.
The Corcoran student award honors the life and advocacy of Gary Corcoran, a wheelchair user from the age of 19 who worked to improve accessibility of housing, public transit, air travel and public venues across Phoenix.
Entries for the 2024 contests will open this fall, with a deadline of early January 2025. More details, and links to the entry forms, will be available on this site in early September.
In the professional contest, winners receive a total of $8,000 in cash awards in large and small media categories. First-place winners receive $2,500 and an invitation to speak about their work at an awards ceremony next spring at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Second-place winners receive $1,000, and third-place winners will receive $500.
In the student contest, prize amounts are $2,500 for first place, $1,500 for second place and $1,000 for third place. Entrants must have been enrolled as a student at the time of publication or broadcast, and the work must have appeared on a campus or affiliated platform.
“Reporters across the U.S. and beyond are producing some terrific work about topics related to disability. These awards aim to celebrate their efforts but also serve to bring more attention to these issues,” said Pauline Arrillaga, executive director of the NCDJ.
Journalists working in digital, print, audio and broadcast media are eligible to enter both contests. Entries are accepted from outside the U.S., although the work submitted must be in English.
Direct questions to Nicole Macias at nicole.macias@asu.edu or Pauline Arrillaga at pauline.arrillaga@asu.edu.