2025 IMA Contest Rules and Instructions

• Best Photo of Indigenous Communities: Open to Associate (non-Indigenous) entrants only.
• Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities: Open to Associate (non-Indigenous) entrants only.
• Best Longform/Magazine Story: For in-depth pieces with a high word count (2500) that take a deep dive into an Indigenous issue.  
• Best News Story: A story that touches on a hard news story dealing with health, education, politics, economic development, race relations, or policy. Open to Associates. 
• Best Feature Story: Tells an insightful and meaningful story regarding an individual/event etc. Open to Associates.
• Best Digital Publication: Open to tribal media publishing digitally.  
• General Excellence: Recognizing excellence in print media. For Indigenous-owned media outlets that are at least 50 percent Indigenous-owned, managed or controlled.
  • Entrants must submit links to three or more printed editions to be considered for this category. Include links to at least three issues and no more than five.
• Best Layout: Recognizing outstanding page design and layout for print publications. For Indigenous-owned media outlets (tribal media) that are at least 50 percent Indigenous-owned, managed or controlled. 
  • Entrants must submit links to three or more editions to be considered for this category.
• Excellence in Beat Reporting: Include links to at least three pieces and no more than five.
• Best Two-Spirit Coverage: Open to coverage of Two-Spirit / Indigenous LGBTQ+ issues and people. Entries may be a single story or series. 
• Best International Indigenous Coverage: Open to reporting on Indigenous communities outside the United States and Canada. Entries may be a single story or series.
• Best Column: Include links to at least three columns and no more than five.
• Best Elder Coverage/AARP Elder Coverage Award
• Best Editorial  
• Best Health Coverage: Entries must submit at least two pieces.
• Best Environmental Coverage: Entries must submit at least two pieces.
• Best News Photo
• Best Feature Photo
• Best Sports Story
• Best Sports Photo

• Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities: Open to Associate (non-Indigenous) entrants only. Entries must be less than 10 minutes.
• Best News Story: A story from 1-8 minutes in length, that touches on a hard news story dealing with health, education, politics, economic development, race relations, policy, etc. Open to Associate entrants.
• Best Feature Story: A story that is human-interest oriented covering arts, community events or unique profiles of individuals or groups. Single entries must be less than 10 minutes. Open to Associate entrants. For professional members, entries longer than 10 minutes may enter the Best Multimedia category. 
• Best Newscast: A standard newscast (2-20 minutes) from any radio station’s daily broadcast. Judging is based on anchor delivery, selection and ordering of stories, and use of sound.
• Best Two-Spirit Coverage: Open to coverage of Two-Spirit / Indigenous LGBTQ+ issues and people. Entries may be a single story or series. Each segment must be less than 10 minutes and timestamped in the submission notes if over this limit.
• Best International Indigenous Coverage: Open to reporting on Indigenous communities outside the United States and Canada. Entries may be a single story or series. Each segment must be less than 10 minutes and timestamped in the submission notes if over this limit.
• Excellence in Beat Reporting: Include links to at least three broadcasts and no more than five.
• General Excellence: For Indigenous-owned media outlets (tribal media) that are at least 50 percent Indigenous-owned, managed or controlled. Include links to at least three broadcasts / episodes and no more than five.
• Best Sports Story: A story that covers a sporting event or an athlete.

• Best Coverage of Indigenous Communities: Open to Associate (non-Indigenous) entrants only. Entries must be less than 10 minutes.    
• Best News Story: A story from 1-8 minutes long, that touches on a hard news story dealing with health, education, politics, economic development, race relations, or policy. Open to Associate entrants.
• Best Feature Story: Entries must be less than 10 minutes; Any entries over the allotted time may enter the Best Multimedia category. Open to Associate entrants.
• Best Newscast: A standard newscast (2-20 minutes in length) from any TV station’s daily broadcast. Judging based on anchor delivery, selection and ordering of stories, and use of sound. 
• Excellence in Beat Reporting: Include links to at least three broadcasts and no more than five.
• General Excellence: For Indigenous-owned media outlets (tribal media) that are at least 50 percent Indigenous-owned, managed or controlled. Include links to at least three issues / clips and no more than five.
• Best Two-Spirit Coverage: Open to coverage of Two-Spirit / Indigenous LGBTQ+ issues and people. Each segment must be less than 10 minutes and timestamped in the submission notes if over this limit.
• Best International Indigenous Coverage: Open to reporting on Indigenous communities outside the United States and Canada. Entries may be a single story or series. Each segment must be less than 10 minutes and timestamped in the submission notes if over.

Category open to documentaries, series, or extended interviews/talk shows, compilations of audio, video, images, and original art for online audiences. Can be stand-alone or complementary to published content. Entries may be one minute up to an hour in length.

The IJA-Medill Milestone Achievement Award recognizes important contributions made by journalists in the past, as well as 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 2025 IJA Membership Luncheon and Business Meeting. 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 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 2025 Indigenous Media Awards Banquet.

As one of the founders of the Native American Press Association in 1983, Tim Giago shaped the mission of what is now IJA. This mission has always focused on uniting and empowering Indigenous media and championing accurate journalism, despite the unique challenges that come with reporting on our own tribal communities. 

The IJA 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 cash prize for the selected recipient, who will be honored during the 2025 Indigenous Media Awards Banquet.

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. The award comes with a cash prize for the selected recipient, who will be honored during the 2025 Indigenous Media Awards Banquet. All entrants must be IJA members, however, there is no entry fee for this category. The recipient will be honored during the 2025 Indigenous Media Awards Banquet.

The Minnie Two Shoes Award celebrates the hard work of tribal media professionals who keep our communities engaged, informed and connected. It recognizes a journalist who has shown tenacity in pursuing stories that matter to the people they serve. Tribal media is defined as a local newspaper, radio or TV station, digital outlet that focuses primarily on one tribal community (ie. Sho-Ban News, Mvskoke Media, Navajo Times, Cheyenne and Arapaho Productions). 

There is no entry fee for this category and there is no cost to nominate a member for this award. Entrants/nominees must be current IJA members and tribal media employees. The award comes with a cash prize of $1000 with support from the International Women’s Media Foundation. 

• Open Call accounts are recommended for outlets that have entries in both the Associate and Professional Divisions to accommodate outlets or publications with multiple entries under one account. Open Call entrants may submit under the Professional (Indigenous members) and Associate (non-Indigenous members or non-member) Divisions. A separate account is required for Student entries. 
  • Open Call is the easiest account type to launch for all submissions including the Student Division.
• Registered Authorized Entrants are accounts previously established by the contest administrator. Authorized entrants can only submit to one of the following divisions: Professional (Indigenous), Associate (non-Indigenous) or Student. Entrants submitting under multiple divisions should follow instructions for Open Call entries. Preset accounts may be set up by contacting Justine Medina: jmedina@naja.com.

Open Call Login:

1. Click “Open Call Login” in the blue bar at the top of the page
2. If you already have an Open Call Contestant account, enter your email address associated with the account and password, then click “Login” and skip to “Request to make entries in a contest” below
3. If you do not already have an Open Call Contestant account, click “Create your Open Call account”
4. Fill out the form
5. Click “Submit” at the bottom of the page

Once you fill out the form to create your Open Call Contestant account, the system will send you a validation email with a link that must be clicked before you can log into your account. The contest admin must approve new account requests before entrants can submit entries.

Request to make entries in a contest (Open Call Only):

1. Hover over the red “Open Call Contestant” text in the blue bar at the top of the page
2. Select “My Contests” in the menu that appears
3. In the “Available Contests” section, check the box next to the contest you would like to enter
4. Hover over the red “Open Call Contestant” text again
5. Select “Manage Entries”

1. Select the contest you would like to enter
2. Select your Media Organization
3. Enter your email address
4. Enter your password
5. Click “Login”

As of 2024, Student and Professional (Indigenous) entrants must be members to verify their Indigenous affiliation(s). 

• • Professional and Associate Division fees are $25 per entry for members.
  • Student Division fees are $10 per entry for Indigenous student members. 
  • Non-member fees are $50 per entry (Associate Division only).
  • Payment will be accepted via credit or debit cards within the BNC platform, which will be charged via PayPal as a third-party processor. A PayPal account is not required to submit payment. 
• All payments must be received by IJA on or before the entry deadline in order to be eligible for judging. 
• Payment via invoice or checks will only be accepted for Indigenous media outlets. Checks should be addressed to: NAJA – OU Gaylord College, 395 W. Lindsey St., Norman, OK 73019.
• If entrants encounter issues with the BNC payment 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.

• 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. 

BNC Payment info (see bullet list above for troubleshooting if it doesn’t ask for billing address)

1. When all entries are submitted log into your account
2. Navigate to the Manage Entries page
3. Click “Calculate Entry Fees”
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to pay for selected entries

IJA will select and assign judges to ensure timely completion of assignments. Only winners will be notified.

Email Membership and Operations Manager Justine Medina at jmedina@naja.com