2026 RNA Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence
2026 RNA Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence
The RNA Awards showcase religion journalism excellence in the news media, with thousands of dollars in prizes. The deadline to enter the 2026 Awards is January 31, 2026. For a full list of contest instructions and category descriptions, visit https://rna.org/instructions. Contact awards@rna.org with any questions.
Entrants must be RNA members to enter. If you are new to RNA and its contest, please email awards@rna.org to request a complimentary one-year membership, which will allow you to enter this year’s contest. Students do not need to be an RNA member to submit a Chandler Award entry. Please write to awards@rna.org to set up a free account on the awards platform to submit. Because all entrants must be RNA members, there is only one fee per entry (rather than a member and a non-member fee). Religion Story of the Year is $120 per entry. Other Any Format Reporting entries and Written Reporting entries are $100 per entry. Visual Reporting and Audio Reporting entries are $80 per entry. Entries for the Chandler Award are free. Remember to complete your check-out to ensure that your entry is submitted.
To sign on to the contest for the first time, click "Enter the Contest Here" below, ensure that "Contestant Manager" is clicked on the upper left corner, find your name on the "Media Organization" drop down, then enter the password "bnc" to login. After login, you will be prompted to reset your password. If you are a contest administrator in charge of submitting entries on behalf of your outlet and its journalists, contact awards@rna.org to set up a contest administrator account and confirm RNA membership of majority of entrants.
Stories, pieces, photos, etc. published between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2025, are eligible for consideration. The deadline to enter the 2026 Awards is January 31, 2026. If an outlet's entries are being submitted by a contest administrator, the majority of credited individuals in the entries must be RNA members. If the outlet is credited as a unit, at least one person on staff must be an RNA member. Winning entries will share the award among all those credited if under five individuals; if over five individuals, the outlet will be awarded as a unit. RNA’s annual contest celebrates great journalism published by news outlets with editorial independence. Secular and religious publications are eligible; however, work published by outlets owned or operated by a particular religion, faith community or religious group are not eligible. Exceptions can be considered if sufficient proof of an outlet's editorial independence is provided to RNA for review. Freelance journalists are encouraged to enter the contest. Their submitted work does not need to be published by the same outlet, including for contests that request more than one story or piece of work be submitted per entry. Entries from outside the U.S. and Canada are eligible, but all entries must be originally published in English to be eligible. Payment for entry must be in U.S. Dollars. An entry is only disqualified if the entrant doesn't meet our eligibility requirements. Please read the eligibility rules carefully. If you have a question, you may contact RNA to resolve the question in advance. Disqualified entries will not be returned and entry fees will be forfeited.
Emily Churchill
2029365567 awards@rna.org