Indigenous Journalists Association adds membership requirement specifying Indigenous affiliation to enter professional and student divisions

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Indigenous Journalists Association will recognize outstanding coverage through the 2024 Indigenous Media Awards during the 2024 Indigenous Media Conference July 25-27 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. The extended deadline for entries is March 22, 2024.

The annual Indigenous Media Awards competition recognizes excellence in reporting by Indigenous and non-Indigenous journalists across the U.S., and Canada. Contest entries will be accepted through March 22, 2024.

Entries will be submitted using the BetterBNC Media Awards Platform. BetterBNC will manage the entry and judging processes and detailed instructions are available for all contestants and judges. 

IMPORTANT: Entrants are encouraged to thoroughly read the full contest instructions before utilizing the BetterBNC contest entry platform to submit entries. Failure to comply with contest rules may lead to delayed results or full disqualification of these entries without a refund.

Contest Rules and Eligibility Guidelines

• Contest entries will be accepted through the extended deadline of March 22, 2024.
• Categories with less than the required number of total entries may be combined.
• NEW rule for 2024: Entrants in all Professional and Student Divisions must have a current IJA membership that specifies their Indigenous affiliation. 
  • IJA members qualify for a 50% discount on entries, bringing the fee to $25 per entry for associates and professionals and $10 for students. 
  • Indigenous affiliation is required for High School, College, Professional, and Tribal Media membership levels and can also be included for individuals with Lifetime, Corporate, Nonprofit and Sustaining Institutional memberships. 
  • Members can join or renew here. 
  • For assistance, contact Membership Manager Sterling Cosper at: scosper@naja.com.
• Associate members (including non-Indigenous students) may only enter the following categories:
  • Best Photo of Indigenous Communities (Exclusive to Associate Entrants)
  • Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities (Exclusive to Associate Entrants)
  • New: Best News Story 
  • New: Best Feature Story
• Professional Divisions are reserved for Indigenous journalists; all entrants in this division must be current IJA members to enter the contest; Associate Divisions are reserved for non-Indigenous entrants, including students.
• The Student Division is for Indigenous undergraduate and graduate students and entrants must be IJA members. Non-Indigenous students may enter the Associate Division, according to circulation level. 
• Entries with multiple bylines or credits may enter Indigenous categories as long as the team represents at least 50% Indigenous contributors.
• If an editor or producer is entering work on behalf of an Indigenous colleague at the member rate, the entrant must be a current IJA member or the entry will not be considered. (All Student and Professional entrants must be current members). 
• Entries may only be submitted via the BetterBNC portal; no email submissions will be accepted. 
• Please provide clear directions for locating entry within any master publication / folder(s). Include page numbers for print/digital and time stamps for broadcast in the Notes section, as needed.  
• Entrants submitting a single story from a full issue should include issue information, page number(s), jumps and headline / cutline in the Notes section of the entry form to provide specific location instructions to judges. 
• Individuals may submit up to five separate entries in any one category, as desired. Entries in multiple categories are encouraged. (Example: In the best news photo category, an individual may submit up to but no more than five different photos to compete against each other. In addition to competing with themselves, entrants would also be competing against other outlets or individual submissions.)
• General excellence awards are for Indigenous-owned media outlets (tribal media) that are at least 50 percent Indigenous-owned, managed or controlled. Entrants must submit links or clips for 3-5 editions/broadcasts to be considered for this category. 
• Best Layout is for Indigenous-owned media outlets (tribal media) that are at least 50 percent Indigenous-owned, managed or controlled. Entrants must submit links to at least 3 editions to be considered for this category. 
• Best Multimedia is open to documentaries, series, or extended interviews/talk shows, compilations of audio, video, images, and original art for online audiences. Entries can be stand-alone or complementary to aired content ranging from one minute to an hour in length.   
• Contest administrators and judges may transfer entries across categories based on their interpretation of contest guidelines. Entrants will not be notified of such a transfer prior to the announcement of awards.
• Judges reserve the right to withhold awards in any category if they determine no entries merit recognition.
• Entries must have been published in 2023.

2024 IJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award

The IJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award recognizes important contributions made by journalists in the past, and encourages the new generation of Indigenous journalists to achieve career excellence. This award honors IJA’s mission and the exemplary people who have led the way with outstanding work and contributions to the field of journalism.

The winner of the IJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award will receive $5,000 from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. IJA will present the award during the IJA Membership Luncheon and Business Meeting on July 26, during the 2024 Indigenous Media Conference at the Omni Hotel in Oklahoma City. All entrants must be IJA members, however, there is no entry fee for this category and there is no cost to nominate a member for this award. 

2024 IJA Elias Boudinot Free Press Award

The IJA Elias Boudinot Free Press Award recognizes a publication or media outlet that has shown dedication and commitment to upholding freedom of the press, information and transparency within Indigenous communities. All entrants must be IJA members, however, there is no entry fee for this category and there is no cost to nominate a member for this award. The recipient will be honored during the 2024 Indigenous Media Awards Banquet on July 27.

2024 IJA Tim Giago Free Press Award

As one of the founders of the Native American Press Association in 1983, Tim Giago shaped the mission of what is now the Indigenous Journalists Association. This mission has always focused on uniting and empowering Indigenous media and championing accurate journalism, despite the unique challenges that come with reporting within tribal communities. The Tim Giago Free Press Award recognizes an individual IJA member that has shown dedication and commitment to upholding freedom of the press, information and transparency within their Indigenous community. Nominees must be current IJA members, however, there is no fee to nominate a member or enter this category. 

The award comes with a $2,500 cash prize for the selected recipient, who will be honored during the 2024 Indigenous Media Awards Banquet on July 27.

2024 IJA Richard LaCourse Award for Investigative Journalism

The IJA Richard LaCourse Award for Investigative Journalism honors groundbreaking work by a Indigenous journalist or a team that creatively uses digital tools in the role of community watchdog. Special consideration is given to journalism that helps a community understand and address important issues. 

A $500 cash prize will be awarded to the winner of the IJA Richard LaCourse Award. All entrants must be IJA members, however, there is no entry fee for this category. The recipient will be honored during the 2024 Indigenous Media Awards Banquet on July 27.

Award Pickup
Awardees may pick up award plaques in person during the 2024 National Native Media Awards Banquet at the Omni Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City on Saturday, July 27.

Additional copies of award plaques may be requested, at cost.

Entrants should complete the Direct / Advanced Shipping Form to submit direct shipping requests ahead of the awards announcement. The deadline to submit direct shipping requests for all awards (originals or additional copies) is Friday, Sept. 6. Send any corrections and requests for duplicates at cost to Membership Manager Sterling Cosper: scosper@naja.com. 

Before submitting the form, entrants should communicate internally about coordinating pickup for colleagues within their outlets to avoid request duplication. This includes awards pickup at the banquet or requesting direct shipping after contest results are announced.

Judging
This year, IJA will recruit and assign judges to specific categories to ensure timely completion of assignments. 

Support
To submit a technical support request anytime throughout the awards process, click the “Help & Support” link located at the top left of the main webpage at https://betternewspapercontest.com/ then select the “Start Trouble Ticket” at the top of the next page. Entrants and judges may also contact BetterBNC technical support by phone at 360-427-6300 Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. PT. 

Fees and Payment
All Student and Professional (Indigenous) entrants must be members to verify their Indigenous affiliation(s) in accordance with new rules. The regular entry fee is $25 per entry for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Professional members. Students are $10 per entry for Indigenous Student members and $50 per entry for all non-member entrants.

• Payment will be accepted via credit or debit cards linked via PayPal within the BNC payment system.
  • Payment via invoice or checks will only be accepted for Indigenous media outlets. 
  • PayPal will process all credit card payments at the point of sale (a PayPal account is not required to utilize this service). 
• If entrants encounter issues with the BNC PayPal interface, they should check the billing address and card information is correct before submitting a help ticket.
  • Recommended browsers are Firefox and Chrome.
  • On the “Calculate Entry Fee” page, select the paid entries, then click the “Pay Now with Card” button. Look in the upper right corner of the address bar to locate a small icon with a red “X” over it. Click the icon and an option to allow BetterBNC to forward to PayPal should appear. Entrants may need to refresh the page, re-select the entries, then click “Pay Now with Card” again to be taken to the payment form to enter a card number and billing address.
  • If this interface doesn’t work after troubleshooting, contact scosper@naja.com for an alternate payment portal. 
• Total payment for multiple entries may be submitted as a single transaction, however, all payments must be received by IJA on or before the entry deadline in order for the entry to be eligible for judging. 
• Checks should be addressed to: Native American Journalists Association, NAJA – OU Gaylord College, 395 W. Lindsey St., Norman, OK 73019.
• Each entry must have a completed entry within the BNC portal and accompanying payment. Only complete entries with full payment received on or before the entry deadline will be judged.
• IJA may not issue refunds but will make every attempt to judge all entries submitted, which may result in some categories or divisions being combined to meet the minimum entry requirement.