Territory: Worldwide
Theme: Photojournalism
Eligibility: Best of Photojournalism 2024 is open to professional photographers, editors and online photojournalists. All entries must have been made (or, for story categories, initially published) between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023.
Entry Fees: NPPA members free. Non-members pay a $75
For more than 75 years, the members of the National Press Photographers Association have worked tirelessly for the benefit of photojournalists by utilizing a range of advocacy and educational programs. Through our annual Best of Photojournalism competition, we proudly recognize the work of visual storytellers around the world.
The competition is split into six primary divisions: Still Photojournalism, Video Photojournalism, Picture Editing, Video Editing, Online Video Presentation & Innovation and Documentary.
The 2024 Best of Photojournalism contest judging will take place during the weekend of February 24th — 25th at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. All results will be posted on this site shortly thereafter, along with recordings of the judging process for each division.
The 2024 competition will begin accepting entries on December 18, 2023, and remain open through 11:59 p.m. ET on January 21, 2024.
Entries for the 2024 Best of Photojournalism competition will be entered via an online portal. All entrants will be required to have a contest-site account regardless of whether they are an NPPA member or not. (Your NPPA login credentials will not work on the competition submission site.)
All entries must have been made (or, for story categories, initially published) between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023.
Category information for the six divisions is available at the top of each page. Please be sure to review the Visual Integrity, Technical Guidelines and Terms of Entry pages before you begin preparing your entries.
There are several changes to category rules for the 2024 competition.
In the Still Photojournalism division, there is now a publication requirement for entries which brings it into alignment with the other five divisions. All single-image entries must have been published and more than 50% of all story category entries must have been published. Published is defined as having gone through an editing process and being made available, in print or online, on a platform with other works of journalism. Self-published work is not eligible.
There are three primary reasons for this change. First, as noted, the other five divisions already had an effective publication requirement. Second, the transmittal of works into the public realm is what will convert photography into photojournalism – in order to be journalism, it must be seen by an audience. Lastly, the attesting of publication is a defense against a growing concern about AI generated imagery – this change means a publication, with a vested interest in journalism, has agreed that the works are authentic.
Additionally, the Photojournalist of the Year categories have been redesigned based on feedback received over the last year. There are now three categories – International, National and Community. The spirit of this change is to more accurately reflect the bodies of work that photojournalists produce and the resources available to them.
In the Picture Editing division, the Editor of the Year categories now mirror the Photojournalist of the Year structure. Again, this is to more accurately reflect the staffing and resources of publications.
In the Video Photojournalism division, the major change is in the Station of the Year category. Based on the number of entries over the last few years, the former Small and Medium market categories have been combined.
The competition is supported through a partnership with the University of Georgia’s College of Journalism and Mass Communication and presented by Sony as its primary sponsor.
