Cash award
Professional media category
First place: $5,000
Second place: $2,500
Student category
Winner receives $2,500
The Shaufler Prize in Journalism
The Shaufler Prize in Journalism is the premier contest recognizing the best journalism in the country advancing the understanding of issues related to LGBTQ+ communities and underrepresented people and groups in society, including communities of color, immigrants, and those with disabilities.
Ed Shaufler, who died in late 2020, cared deeply about promoting understanding of underrepresented people. Paul B. Anderson, principal and CEO of Workhouse Media, established the prize to honor his late friend.
The 2026 Shaufler Prize submission form is NOW OPEN. The application deadline is Friday, January 15, 2027
To enter, complete the Shaufler Prize submission form.
Eligibility
Professionals: Any working professional may enter the professional category.
Students: Students entering the competition must be enrolled in an accredited journalism program at the time the entry was published or broadcast.
Submission criteria
Submissions must be made via the Shaufler Prize submission form and meet the following criteria:
- Entries must consist of work published or aired on print, digital, audio or broadcast platforms between Sept. 1, 2025 and Dec. 31, 2026.
- Broadcast and video entries are limited to 10 minutes.
- Audio features are limited to 10 minutes, and podcasts to 30 minutes.
- Print and online entries are limited to a single story or story package (a main story with sidebars of shorter length or a series of no more than four related stories).
- Entries may represent the work of one person or multiple individuals.
Judging criteria
Entries will be judged by journalism professionals and educators. Judges will consider how well submissions:
- Provide in-depth coverage of the issues affecting LGBTQ+ communities, along with communities of color, immigrants, or those with disabilities.
- Go beyond the ordinary in conveying the challenges experienced by underserved communities, with an emphasis on narrative story-telling.
Tell stories that capture human experiences and build understanding among diverse people and communities.
2025 Shaufler Prize in Journalism Winners
- The 2025 first place prize in the professional category went to a team of NBC News journalists who produced “Dealing the Dead,” an explosive investigation that exposed how a Fort Worth-based medical school made millions of dollars in part by obtaining unclaimed bodies of the poor and vulnerable and leasing out the parts for medical training and research.
- The second place winner was “Illinois is the last state to unlawfully strip wealth from homeowners caught in tax foreclosure,” produced by Carlose Ballesteros of Injustice Watch and Emeline Posner of the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, with assistance from colleagues Maia McDonald, Tatiana Walk-Morris and Kristen Axtman. The first-of-its kind analysis found that more than 1,000 homeowners in Cook County, Ill. have lost their homes to tax foreclosure since 2019, some over an original tax debt as low as $110.
- The third place winner was “When Home is the Danger” by Paul Flahive of Texas Public Radio, a series using child fatality data, open records, extensive sourcing and interviews to expose how Texas’ law changes and policy choices are leaving children in abusive and neglectful home. The project was supported by the Pulitzer Center’s StoryReach U.S. fellowship.
- Judges awarded an honorable mention to “San Franciso is weaponizing parking rules to displace RV communities. Here’s how it started.” by Yesica Prado and Erika Carlos of El Tecolote.
The winner in the student category was “The Colorado Plateau’s Nuclear Legacy,” by Leo Diven Legay of Northern Arizona University, published in the school’s Lumberjack magazine.
2024 Shaufler Prize winners
First place, professional: Robin McDowell and Margie Mason, The Associated Press, "Prison to Plate."
Second place, professional: Stacy Kranitz and Kavitha Surana, ProPublica, "The Year After a Denied Abortion."
Third place, professional: Ronny Rojas, Angela Cantador, Albinson Linares, Brenda Medina and Martha Olivia Lopez, Telemundo, “Traileres, trampa para migrantes’ (‘Cargo trucks: a trap for migrants).
Student winner: NYCity News Service at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, "The Newest New Yorkers."
2023 Shaufler Prize winners
First place, professional: Hannah Dreier, The New York Times, “Alone and Exploited.”
Second place, professional: Courtney Tanner, Salt Lake Tribune, “Failing the Utes.”
Third place, professional: Rommel H. Ojeda and John Upton, “Surviving the Water: New York City’s Flooding Crisis in the Age of Climate Change.”
Student winner: Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York “Hard Lessons.”
2022 Shaufler Prize winners
First place, professional: Aydali Campa, Inside Climate News, a three-part series titled “The Superfund Site Next Door: Toxins and Mistrust in Atlanta.”
Second place, professional: Jamie Smith Hopkins, Center for Public Integrity; and a podcast team with Transmitter Media, for “The Wealth Vortex.”
Third place, professional: Susan Ferriss and Joe Yerardi, Center for Public Integrity, “Cheated at Work.”
Student winner: Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, University of Maryland; “Mega Billions: The Great Lottery Wealth Transfer.”
2021 Shaufler Prize winners
First place, professional: Toluse Olorunnipa and Griff Witte, along with the staff of The Washington Post, “Born with Two Strikes: How systemic racism shaped Floyd’s life and hobbled his ambition,” which was part of the series, “George Floyd’s America.”
Second place, professional: Lizzie Presser, ProPublica, “Tethered to the Machine.”
Third place, professional: Maria Perez, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “The Long Way Home”
Student winner: Cronkite School’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, “Little Victims Everywhere.” Reporters: Brendon Derr, Rylee Kirk, Anne Mickey, Allison Vaughn, McKenna Leavens and Leilani Fitzpatrick