2026 Salute to Excellence Winners
The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) announced its 2026 Salute to Excellence Awards winners during its annual gala at the #NABJ26 Convention & Career Fair Saturday in Atlanta. The winners for each category are below.
NOTICE: Winners will be contacted via email in the coming weeks with information on how to verify and receive their awards by mail. Please standby for communication from the NABJ. (Promo videos are linked to titles, if received during the nomination process. They are available through the end of the month.)
COLLEGIATE
DIGITAL
Digital Media – Graduate: Best Use of Multimedia – Special Project
200 Years Later: Tour the Black Neighborhood Destroyed to Create Central Park
Randi Richardson
New York University, Pavement Pieces, New York, NY
Digital Media – Undergraduate – Online Feature Reporting
Non-Profit Organization Helps Former Foster Care Youth Move-In to HBCUs
Myla S. Roundy, Damenica Ellis, Misha Bernard-Lucien, Tia Pitts, Prof. Dominic McKenzie
Howard University News Service, Howard University, Washington, D.C.
Digital Media – Undergraduate – Online News Reporting
In the Midst of Senioritis: College Seniors Struggle to Access Timely Mental Health Support at Howard
Tatiana Allen
Howard University News Service, Howard University, Washington, D.C.
Digital Media – Undergraduate – Online Sports Reporting
Valerye Boyer-Wells Finally Finds Her Place in Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame
Tia Reid
Walter Cronkite Sports Network, Tempe, AZ
Newspaper – Graduate (No Entries)
Newspaper – Undergraduate – Feature Reporting
Dandyism Deconstructed: This Year’s Met Gala draws inspiration from Black dandyism, a bold style that offers a fresh way for SMU students
Mari Sato
Southern Methodist University/SMU Look Media, Dallas, TX
Newspaper – Undergraduate – General News Reporting
Morehouse Confronts Potential Threat of ICE Arrival on Campus
Elijah Qualls
Morehouse College Social Justice Journalism Class in Partnership with Capital B, Atlanta, GA
Photography – Graduate Only (No Entries)
Television – Graduate (No Entries)
Television – Undergraduate – Best Newscast
Your News, Your Vision, Your Community: Presenting the Fall 25 NewsVision Capstone
Jeffrey Jones, Reinah McNeil, Jada White, Noah Jackson
Staff of Fall ’25 NewsVision Capstone, “Supreme Seven”
Prof. Jennifer Thomas
WHUT Howard Univ. Washington, D.C.
Television – Undergraduate – Feature: Short Form
A Look Inside Fayetteville State’s Archives Department
Shimei Cook and Staff of Bronco TV 2025
What’s Hot With Shimei Cook, Fayetteville, NC
Podcast – Undergraduate – Arts and Culture
A Conversation with the Legendary Tim Reid
A’lauren Gilchrist
WNSB HOT91, Norfolk, VA
PROFESSIONAL
DIGITAL MEDIA
Digital Media – Business
Deleting DEI
Ellis Simani, Zisiga Mukulu
ProPublica – New York, NY
Digital Media – Commentary/Weblog
Are We Fascist Yet?
Michael Harriot, Genetta Adams
ContrabandCamp, Marshallville, GA
Digital Media – Interactive: Feature
Plantations to Pollution: Black Communities, Legacy Pollution, and the Path Forward
Tasha Durrett, Nehemiah Bester, Jordy Yager, Cornell Watson
The Southern Environmental Law Center, Charlottesville, VA
Digital Media – Interactive: News
Staff of NBC News, New York, NY; Stanford University Researchers, Stanford, CA
Digital Media – International Reporting: Single Story Feature
How the U.S. Automotive Industry Fuels Lead Poisoning in Nigeria
Taylor Turner, Will Fitzgibbon, Ashleigh Joplin, Staff of The Examination
The Examination, New York, NY
Digital Media – International Reporting: Single Story News
The Poisonous Lead Trade
Will Fitzgibbon, Peter S. Goodman, Samuel Granados, Staff of The Examination and The New York Times, New York, NY
Digital Media – Online Project: Feature
Race, Guns, Profit: The Pain of Gun Violence Spans American Political, Cultural, and Geographic Divides. Young Black People Suffer the Most, Facing an Urgent Public Health Crisis.
Fred Clasen-Kelly, Renuka Rayasam, Chaseedaw Giles, Daniel Chang
KFF Health News, Washington, D.C.
Digital Media – Online Project: News
Mississippi’s Deadly Prisons
Daja Henry, Mina Corpuz, Jerry Mitchell, Grant McLaughlin, Caleb Bedillion
The Marshall Project – Jackson, Mississippi Today, The Mississippi Link, Clarion Ledger, Hattiesburg American, Jackson, MS
20 Years Later: Hurricane Katrina
Luke Burke, L. Kasimu Harris, Tanya Hoffler-Moore, Kirsten West- Savali, Allison McGevna
Staff of iONE Digital, NEWSONE, New York, NY
Digital Media – Single Story: Feature
With I-375 Redesign, Detroiters Could Have a Chance to Right Past Community Wrongs
Olivia Lewis, Valaurian Waller
BridgeDetroit, Detroit, MI in partnership with the US@250 Fellowship from New America
Digital Media – Single Story: News
“Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas
Kavitha Surana, Lizzie Presser
ProPublica, New York, NY
Virginia’s Probe into Public Universities’ Displacement of Black Neighborhoods
Brandi Kellam, Wayne Pellenberg, Kaylah Ussin
Virginia Mercury, Richmond, VA
Digital Media – Sports
Kangols, Denim Jackets and Dreams: Inside Jackson State’s Historic 1975 NFL Draft Class
Wilton Jackson
ESPN Andscape, Washington, D.C.
MAGAZINE
Magazine Over 1 Million – No Entries
Magazine Under 1 Million – International
Isma’il Kushkush
The New York Review of Books, New York, NY
NEWSPAPER
Newspaper – National – Commentary/Essay
Trump is Terrified of Black Culture. But Not for the Reasons You Think
Saida Grundy
The Guardian US, New York, NY
Newspaper – National – Feature: Single Story
Black History Month – Saving Our Sisters
Sheree Curry
USA TODAY, Black History Month Special Edition, New York, NY
Newspaper – National – Investigative
Kenyan Housekeepers Investigations
Abdi Latif Dahir, Vivian Nereim, Justin Scheck
The New York Times, New York, NY
Newspaper – National – News: Series
Trump’s Attacks on Diversity
Erica Green
The New York Times, New York, NY
Newspaper – National – Sports
American Sports Are Turning Up the Volume of Afrobeats
Emmanuel Morgan
The New York Times, New York, NY
Newspaper – National – News: Single Story
No Nominees
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff of 50 & Below – Feature: Series
Actual Innocence: A Fight for Justice, 48 Years in the Making
Jessie Christopher Smith, Nathan J. Fish, Todd Pendleton
The Oklahoman, part of the USA TODAY Network in Oklahoma City, OK
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff of 50 & Below – Feature: Single Story
‘Nobody’s Ever Going to be Held Accountable’: Families of Unsolved Murder Victims Fight to Maintain Hope
Edgar Mendez
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, Milwaukee, WI
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff of 50 & Below – Investigative
The Housing Barrier: Gun Violence Survivors Struggle to Find Accessible Housing
Shannon Chaffers
New York Amsterdam News, New York, NY
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff of 50 & Below – News: Series
Tax Breaks Propped Up a Troubled Memphis Apartment Complex — and Tenants Paid the Price
Michael Finch II
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism, Memphis, TN
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff of 50 & Below – News: Single Story
They were sleeping, driving, walking in Memphis. Then Trump’s police task force came.
Wendi C. Thomas, Katherine Burgess
MLK50: Justice Through Journalism/ProPublica, Memphis, TN
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff of 50 & Below – Sports
SWAC Coaches Brace for Top Players Hitting Transfer Portal for FBS Riches
Terrance Harris
Staff of The Houston Defender/ Defender Network, Houston, TX
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff of 50 & Below – Commentary/Essay
No Nominees
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff of 50 & Below – Specialty
No Nominees
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 51-100 – Commentary/Essay
Collection of Columns by Amelia Robinson
Amelia Robinson
Columbus Dispatch, Columbus, OH
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 51-100 – Feature: Single Story
Rodeo Comes to Town
Jon Michael Banks, Dominick Williams
The Kansas City Star, Kansas City, MO
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 51-100 – Investigative
Lawless
Kristine Phillips, Mykal McEldowney
Indianapolis Star, Indianapolis, IN
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 51-100 – News: Single Story
No nominees
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 51-100 – News: Specialty
No nominees
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 101-200 – Business
Black-Owned Bookstores in Chicago Struggle After 2020 Surge ‘ as if Supporting Us was a Trend
Mariah Rush
Chicago Public Media, Chicago, IL
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 101-200 – Commentary/Essay
The Untold Segregation Story that Shaped a Divided Houston
Joy Sewing
Houston Chronicle, Houston, TX
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 101-200 – Feature: Single Story
How Black Mentors in Chicago are Making College Possible
Lisa Kurian Philip
Chicago Public Media, Chicago, IL
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 101-200 – Investigative
Social Security paid $80,000 for her care. Yet this disabled Milwaukee woman slept on the street.
Tamia Fowlkes
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee, WI
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 101-200 – News Photo
Avenging the Ancestors
Jessica Griffin
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 101-200 – News: Series
Haiti’s Lost Generation
The Miami Herald, Miami, FL
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 101-200 – News: Single Story
Chicago’s Death Gap
Kristen Schorsch
Chicago Public Media, Chicago, IL
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 101-200 – Specialty
Lead Pipe Problem the Worst in Chicago’s Majority Black and Latino neighborhoods
Amy Qin, Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, Keerti Gopal, Clayton Aldern, Peter Aldhous
Chicago Public Media, Chicago, IL; Inside Climate News: Brooklyn, NY; Grist: Seattle, WA
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 101-200 – Sports
No Nominees
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 201 and Above – Business
After George Floyd’s murder, Boston groups pledged $1 billion toward equity causes. Where did it go?
Tiana Woodard, Vince Dixon
The Boston Globe, Boston, MA
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 201 and Above – Commentary/Essay
Commentaries by Sheree R. Curry on State of Diversity in 2025
Sheree Curry, Yohuru Williams
The Minnesota Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 201 and Above – Feature: Series
Blood on the Streets
Bob Hohler
The Boston Globe, Boston, MA
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 201 and Above – Feature: Single Story
A Wartime Literary History Uncovered — Spelled with a ‘Double V’
Robin Washington
The Minnesota Star Tribune, Minneapolis, MN
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 201 and Above – Specialty
A Legacy of Pollution
Tiffany Cusaac-Smith, Mercedes Hamilton, Arielle Martinez
Newsday, Melville, NY
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 201 and Above – News: Series
No Nominees
Newspaper – Newsroom Staff 201 and Above – Sports
No Nominees
PHOTOJOURNALISM
Photojournalism – Videography
Cape Verde’s World Cup dream and the Boston-Area Diaspora that Lived It
Randy Vazquez
The Boston Globe, Boston, MA
Photojournalism – Photography: Single Image
Curls, coils, and confidence steal the fashion show
Erin Clark
The Boston Globe, Boston, MA
Photojournalism – Photography: Multiple Images
Photo Essay Black Rodeo
David Maialetti
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA
PODCAST
Podcast – Arts and Culture
Andrea Tudhope, M. Simone Boyd
We Are North Nashville, Nashville, TN
Colorado Matters: The Work of Chandra Thomas Whitfield
Chandra Thomas Whitfield, Carl Bilek, Colorado Matters Team
Colorado Public Radio KCFR, Denver, CO
Podcast – Commentary and Discussion
The Debt: What Tennessee Owes Its HBCU
Emily Siner, Camellia Burris
Nashville Public Radio, 90.3 WPLN News, Nashville, TN; The Tennessee Lookout, Nashville, TN
Podcast – Lifestyle
Bury Me Whole
Hana Baba, Kristina Loring, James Rowlands, Leila Day
The Stoop podcast from Radiotopia/PRX, San Francisco, CA
Podcast – Limited Series
Heat List
James Edwards, Matt Stroud, Erisa Apantaku, Philippa Geering, Krish Dineshkumar, Alex Portfelix
Wondery, Culver City, CA; Vespucci, Los Angeles, CA
PR & MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
PR & Marketing Campaigns: Business – Services
A Legacy in Motion: R&B Great Karyn White’s Gale & The Storm Streaming Campaign
Kim Betton
Premier Multimedia Group, LLC, Germantown, MD
PR & Marketing Campaigns: Business – Cause Related- Business – Services
African Development Bank Group Launches ENNOVA for Youth Entrepreneurs
Alphonso Van Marsh, Staff of African Development Bank Group
Staff of African Development Bank Group, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
PR & Marketing Campaigns: Print
No nominees
PR & Marketing Campaigns: Business – Radio
No Nominees
RADIO
Radio – Market 16 And Below: Feature
Metcalfe Park Seniors Start a Carpool to Shop for Groceries after Pick ‘n Save Leaves Neighborhood
Teran Powell
89.7 FM WUWM Milwaukee’s NPR, Milwaukee, WI
Radio – Market 16 And Below: News: Series
The Audacity to Not Give Up
Andrea Y Henderson, Marissanne Lewis-Thompson
St. Louis Public Radio (KWMU), St. Louis, MO
Radio – Market 16 And Below: Public Affairs: Segment
Leoneda Inge, Cole del Charco
WUNC, NC Public Radio, Chapel Hill, NC
Radio – Network: Feature
The Sunday Magazine: Five Years After George Floyd Murder, Racial Justice Faces Rollbacks
Piya Chattopadhyay, Andrea Hoang, Howard Goldenthal, Brian Coulton
CBC, Toronto, Canada
Radio – Top 15 Markets: Documentary
The Amazing Henry Box Brown
Lisa Godfrey
CBC, Toronto, Canada
Radio – Top 15 Markets: Feature
As Ann Arbor Honors Long-Closed Jones School, Alums Recall a Hub for Black Life
Doug Tribou
Michigan Public, WUOM, Ann Arbor, MI
Did Chicago Public Schools do enough to stop racist bullying?
Sarah Karp, Nader Issa
Chicago Public Media, Chicago, IL
Radio – Top 15 Markets: News: Investigative
Manufacturing Danger: The BioLab Story
Pamela Kirkland
Georgia Public Broadcasting, Atlanta, GA
Radio – Top 15 Markets: News: Series
Who Owns Chicago?
Amy Qin, Esther Yoon-Ji Kang, Andjela Padejski, Alden Loury, Alexandra Salomon
Chicago Public Media, Chicago, IL
Radio – Top 15 Markets: Public Affairs: Segment
What’s That Building? Future Emmett Till House Museum
Sasha-Ann Simons, Dennis Rodkin, Daniel Tucker
Chicago Public Media, Chicago, IL
TELEVISION
Television – Market 16 and Below: Documentary
Jennifer Sanders, Jala Washington, Laney Valian, Kelly Wiley, Ashli Parks, Eric Lefenfeld
KXAN News, Austin, TX
Television – Market 16 and Below: Feature: Long Form
Celia’s Story: A 175 Year Road to Innocence
Melanie Johnson
KMOV-TV, GRAY TELEVISION, Maryland Heights, MO
Television – Market 16 and Below: Feature: Short Form
The Jessica Matthews Story
Keitha Nelson-Williams, Nick Moron, Oben Everett
First Coast News, WTLV/WJXX, Jacksonville, FL
Television – Market 16 and Below: General Assignment News: Long Form
Cierra Putman, Ryan Thedwall, Susan Batt
WTHR-TV, Indianapolis, IN; TEGNA, Tysons, VA
Television – Market 16 and Below: General Assignment News: Short Form
Consequences of Parole
Ashlei King
FOX16, Little Rock, AR
Television – Market 16 and Below: International
After Hurricane Melissa: Jamaica Faces a Long Road to Recovery
Aaron Maybin
WPLG-TV Local 10 News, Miami, FL
Television – Market 16 and Below: Public Affairs: Interview/Discussion
Jayne Kennedy: The Highs and Lows of A Trailblazer with Tim Lampley
Tim Lampley, Andy Ruzicka, Charlotte Ottley, Ken Gurney, Joe Brown
STL TV, St. Louis, MO
Television – Market 16 and Below: Public Affairs: Program
Heartbeat Heroines: Black Women Keeping Music City Alive
Jerry Shannon
WSMV4, Nashville, TN
Television – Market 16 and Below: Public Affairs: Segment
No Nominees
Television – Market 16 and Below: Specialty
No Nominees
Television – Market 16 and Below: Sports
No Nominees
Television – Network: Documentary
ABC News Studios | Hulu Murder Has Two Faces
Robin Roberts, Lisa Cortés, Tara Malone, Katie Conway, Claire Weinraub, David Sloan
ABC News Studios, New York, NY
Television – Network: Feature: Long Form
ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis: Emmett Till’s Murder 70 Years Later
Steve Osunsami, Jon Schlosberg, Jesse Bekas, Denise Rehrig
ABC News, New York, NY
Television – Network: Feature: Short Form
CBS Mornings: Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club
Michelle Miller, Chris Stover, Lete Childs. Craig Shea, Tony Furlow, Mark Mazariegos
CBS News, New York, NY
Television – Network: General Assignment News: Long Form
ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis: Revisiting the Voting Rights Act
Steve Osunsami, Sarah Avery, Janice McDonald, Jesse Bekas, Brianti Downing, Denise Rehrig
ABC News, New York, NY
Television – Network: General Assignment News: Short Form
ABC World News Tonight with David Muir: Erasing an American Icon
Rachel Scott, Claire Brinberg, Molly Nagle, Emily Cohen, Thomas Fasano
ABC News, New York, NY
Television – Network: International
Famine in Sudan
Debora Patta, Haitham Moussa, Sarah Carter, Ammar Awad, Barny Smith, Meshack Dube
CBS News, New York, NY
Television – Network: Investigative
CNN Investigates Killing of Tanzanian Protesters by Police
Larry Madowo, CNN Staff
CNN Worldwide, London, England
Television – Network: Public Affairs: Interview/Discussion
20/20 – Michelle Obama: The Style, The Power, The Look – A Conversation with Robin Roberts
Robin Roberts, Janice Johnston, Karen Leo, Gail Deutsch, Eboni Griffin, Staff of 20/20
ABC News, New York, NY
Television – Network: Public Affairs: Public Affairs: Program
Caresse Jackman, Owen Hornstein, Emily Featherston, Sarah Jane Tribble, Holly Hacker
InvestigateTV, Washington, D.C.; KFF Health News, Washington, D.C.
Television – Network: Public Affairs: Segment
ABC News Live: After the Ashes
Kayna Whitworth, Seni Tienabeso, Emily Lippiello, Derick Yanehiro, Emily Bonilla
ABC News, New York, NY
Television – Network: Specialty
Katrina: 20 Years Later
Victor Blackwell, Michelle Moryc, Marianela Lichtscheidl, Jamille Whitlow
CNN Worldwide, Atlanta, GA
Television – Network: Sports
College GameDay: A World Away
Jose Morales, Vin Cannamela, Blake Foeman, John N. Minton, Joseph Disney
ESPN, Bristol, CT
College GameDay: The Guardian
Jose Morales, Joseph Disney, John N. Minton, Vin Cannamela, Alex Nolen
ESPN, Bristol, CT
Television – Network: Spot News
60 Minutes: “The Fires”
Bill Whitaker, Nichole Marks, Marc Lieberman, Heather Abbott, Production Staff of “The Fires”
CBS News, New York, NY
Television – Top 15 Markets: Documentary
Emerald Morrow, Amanda Cordero, Kyle Porter, Gregory Nowell
WTSP-TV, St. Petersburg, FL
Television – Top 15 Markets: Feature: Long Form
Is pollution from the steel industry behind cancer rates in Gary, Indiana?
Deanna Fry, Tara Molina, Michele Youngerman
CBS Chicago, Chicago, IL
Television – Top 15 Markets: Feature: Short Form
Kaitlyn Ross, Jon Samuels
WXIA-TV, TEGNA, Atlanta, GA
Television – Top 15 Markets: General Assignment News: Short Form
Brian Unger
CBS Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Television – Top 15 Markets: Investigative
Licensed and Locked up
Dorothy Tucker, Reed Nolan, Samah Assad
CBS News Chicago, Chicago, IL
Television – Top 15 Markets: Public Affairs: Interview/Discussion
Inside New York’s Civil Rights Handoff
Tara Rosenblum, Jean Salzarulo, Audry Gruber, Alan Flamenhaft, Lee Danuff, Jonathan Gordon
News 12 Network, New York, NY
Television – Top 15 Markets: Public Affairs: Program
‘No One Will Do It for Us’: Inside the Crisis in Black Maternal Health| A Special Report
Teneille Gibson, Jummy Olabanji
WRC-TV NBC Washington, Washington, D.C.; NBCUniversal, New York, NY
Television – Top 15 Markets: Specialty
A Devastating Diagnosis: Georgia Woman’s Fight Against Hair Relaxer Companies
Faith Jessie, Mike Nicolas, Darrell Pryor, Gabriella Nuñez-Garcia, Ciara Bri’d Frisbie, Kristie Anderson
11Alive/WXIA, TEGNA, Atlanta, GA
For questions or corrections, email awards@nabj.org.
(Note: The National Office is closed for post-convention break until Aug. 24)