The 2026 Online Journalism Awards Celebration

On October 1, 2026, journalists, editors and newsroom leaders — from the largest national outlets to the most resourceful independent newsrooms — will gather at City Winery in New York City to celebrate this year’s honorees. Join us to recognize and celebrate the year's best work in digital journalism with a dinner and ceremony honoring the winners of the 2026 Online Journalism Awards!  Information about purchasing tickets coming soon. 

About

The Online Journalism Awards (OJAs), launched in May 2000, are the only comprehensive set of journalism prizes honoring excellence in digital journalism around the world. 

The OJAs recognize major media, international and independent sites and individuals producing innovative work in digital storytelling. The OJA screeners and judges place special emphasis on entries that demonstrate mastery of the special characteristics and emerging technology of digital journalism.

Submissions to the 2026 Online Journalism Awards closed. Finalists will be announced in early August.

Finalists and winners are selected through a two-step process. First, industry-leading journalists and digital media professionals screen the awards to determine semi-finalists. Second, panels of judges, composed of senior-level journalism professionals, convene in August to select the finalists and winners.

For the 2026 OJAs, four awards come with a total of $51,000 in prize money, courtesy of The University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication’s Agora Journalism Center, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, SmartNews and Aspen Digital, a program of the Aspen Institute. These awards honor community-centered journalism, investigative data journalism, service journalism and general excellence.

To learn more about the awards and ONA, visit https://awards.journalists.org