Sixth Annual Local News Awards Celebrate the Power of Local Reporting

Report for America honored reporters in 11 categories along with six specialty awards as part of its 2026 corps member graduation

Today Report for America recognized exceptional reporting from its corps members over the past year through its Local News Awards and celebrated the 52 corps members who are graduating from the national service program.      

This year’s Local News Awards winners were selected from more than 200 pieces of reporting from nearly 100 Report for America corps members. Reporting examined immigration, housing, education, reproductive rights, environmental change, mental health and the future of local communities in places from Vermont’s northern border to the Mississippi Delta, Puerto Rico to Alaska, and San Francisco to rural New Mexico. Together, these journalists delivered accountability reporting, captured moments of resilience, and ensured underreported communities and issues received the thoughtful coverage they deserve.

During a special virtual ceremony on June 24, 2026, 31 reporters were recognized for their reporting across 11 categories, including investigative, community building, solutions-based, and multimedia reporting.

In addition, six specialty categories recognized the work beyond corps member reporting that makes Report for America unique and vital in the local news ecosystem. New this year was the Community Superstar Award, which was awarded to a corps member who has been a star participant in training sessions and building up the Report for America online community. In addition, as part of its robust reporter training, development and support, a Mentor of the Year was recognized.

Report for America’s Local News Sustainability team recognized two Newsrooms of the Year, one nonprofit and one for-profit, as well as two Accelerator Newsrooms, one nonprofit and one for-profit. Find the full list of winners below.

The evening was also a celebration of the 52 corps members graduating from the Report for America national service program. Since fielding its first reporter class in 2018, Report for America has matched more than 800 journalists with local newspapers, public radio stations, digital platforms, and television outlets across the country. 

Local News Awards

News

1st – Katelyn Vue, Sahan Journal
Selfies, surprise visits, secret codes: A third-party monitoring company flips Minnesota immigrants’ lives upside down

2nd – Jabari Gibbs, The Current
Woman charged with attempted murder under Georgia abortion law

3rd – Claudia Rivera Cotto, Enlace Latino NC
North Carolina students face reduced access to fresh, local meals amid federal funding cuts

Enterprise/Investigative (1 story)

1st – Lucy Tompkins, Seven Days
A new era of enforcement on Vermont’s northern border

2nd – Claudia Rivera Cotto, Enlace Latino NC
Displaced by luxury housing developer Toll Brothers, Chatham Estates residents demand compensation

3rd – Katherine Lin, Mississippi Today
Alcohol crisis: Mississippi liquor stores, bars run dry from ABC problems

Enterprise/Investigative (up to 3 stories)

1st – Rebecca E.J. Cadenhead, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism
No school, no fresh air and isolated
Judge Sugarmon says he didn’t know about solitary confinement until June. MLK50 reporting appears to contradict his statement.
When juvenile detention staff were scarce, youth say they were isolated

2nd – Amanda Pérez Pintado, Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI)
Inhumano el manejo tras las rejas de personas con condiciones mentales
El limbo de los no procesables en el sistema penal de Puerto Rico

3rd – Esteban Candelaria, The Santa Fe New Mexican
Growing pains: Challenges emerge as New Mexico rolls out no-cost child care for all
Data: Little progress so far in expanding New Mexico child care capacity
New Mexico turns to registered home-based providers to expand child care system 

Features

1st – Daniel Zawodny, The Baltimore Banner
Between boon and boondoggle, the Purple Line winds toward completion

2nd – Emma Malinak, Cardinal News
In Lynchburg’s historic Black commercial district, developers are giving Fifth Street a second chance

3rd – Phillip Powell, Arkansas Time
Dirt rich, cash poor: As economic pressures mount, some Delta farmers hoe their last row

Community Building

1st – Lucy Tompkins, Seven Days
As U.S.-Canadian goodwill dries up, the Haskell is an oasis

2nd – Sinclair Holian, The Roanoke Rambler
Northwest Roanoke leaders aim to change narrative of a once-notorious street. Now the city wants to get involved, too. 

3rd – Carlos Nogueras Ramos, The Texas Tribune
Five years after shedding Confederate moniker, a West Texas high school may be Lee High again

Solutions-based Journalism

1st – Daniel Schoenherr, The Cadillac News
Northern Michigan school bans screens to boost literacy. Will it work?

2nd – Patricia Serrano, Enlace Latino NC
La reinvención de Caja Solidaria y el futuro incierto de la salud comunitaria en las montañas de Carolina de Norte

3rd – Io Yeh Gilman, Mission Local
On Day 200, residents see progress and challenges in S.F.’s efforts at 16th St. 

Photo story (Multiple Photos)

1st – Justin Taylor, The Current
Series of images on the Highway 82 wildfire

2nd – Kevin Wurm, MLK50: Justice Through Journalism
Series of images that tell the story of resistance to the National Guard’s deployment in Memphis

3rd – Annie Barker, Stocktonia
Series of images on Stagg High School’s winter guard

Feature Photos (Single Photo)

Multimedia

1st – Maria Crane and Marissa Greene, The Fort Worth Report
At 150, historic Fort Worth church faces sale, but congregants say its story isn’t over

2nd – Tabius McCoy, The Atlanta Voice
Short documentary about the Sadie G. Mays Health & Rehabilitation Center, Georgia’s longest-standing nonprofit senior living center and the only one founded by an African American women in the early 1900s during the height of Jim Crow

3rd – David Escobar, Adirondack Explorer/North Country Public Radio
Drag culture breaks down barriers in rural Northern New York

Podcast/Audio shorter than 5 minutes

1st – Rose Schnabel, WUFT News
The spirit of the Ganges on the banks of the Suwanee

2nd – Alex Cox, WWNO/WRKF
Louisiana volunteer group brings groceries to families fearing immigration crackdown

3rd – Macy Lipkin, KUER 90.1 – NPR Utah
Volunteers delivers ‘Lasagna Love’ as shutdown effects linger for Utah families

Podcast/Audio longer than 5 minutes

1st – Carly Berlin, Vermont Public/VTDigger
Brave Little State episode: What happened to all the halfway houses in Vermont?

2nd – Vahini Shori, WBHM
A thriving Muslim school in Alabama looked to expand, but was met with Islamaphobia

3rd – Hunter Morrison, KRBD Rainbird Community Radio
Canoe season awakens in Metlakatla

Special Awards

Community Superstar Award: Erica Little, Pinal Central
This new award goes to a corps member who has been a star participant in training sessions and building up the Report for America online community.

Mentor of the Year: Naomi Pestana, mentoring Estefanía Pinto Ruiz KWQC TV6 News Davenport, Iowa

Local News Sustainability Award – Nonprofit Host Newsroom

Mirror Indy

Local News Sustainability Award – For-Profit Host Newsroom

Seven Days

Local News Sustainability Award – Nonprofit Accelerator

J. The Jewish News

Local News Sustainability Award – For-profit Accelerator

Main Street Media of Tennesse