{"id":7044,"date":"2019-05-06T20:34:57","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T20:34:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/awards\/?page_id=7044"},"modified":"2025-03-27T19:34:34","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T19:34:34","slug":"change-log","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/awards\/change-log\/","title":{"rendered":"Category Changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Each year, the Online Journalism Awards and Recognition Committee<\/a> reassesses the categories offered and provides revisions, if deemed necessary. Below is a log of the changes made since 2016.<\/p>\n

\n

General updates<\/strong>
\n2025 \u2014 Clarification is added about how independent creator journalists can submit work for consideration, usually under the micro newsroom size category. In categories that have cash prizes, ONA will only issue one payment per winning submission following the award announcement; winners must reasonably respond to communication by ONA (including payment attempts) within six months, otherwise the prize money will be considered unclaimed and no longer available.
\n2022 \u2014 Entries are allowed to be entered in three categories. High school and undergraduate students may only submit to the Student Journalism Award category. Graduate students may submit to all other categories.
\n2017 \u2014 Entries are allowed to be entered in two categories. Students may only submit to the Student Journalism Category.<\/p>\n

General Excellence<\/strong>
\n2018 \u2014 The subcategory Micro newsroom was added<\/p>\n

Breaking News
\n<\/strong>2022 \u2014 Entries must now be published within 72 hours of the event
\n2021 \u2014 Went from three subcategories (small, medium and large) to two (small\/medium and large).
\n2018 \u2014 Entries must now be published within 36 hours of the event<\/p>\n

Digital Video Storytelling
\n<\/strong>2024 \u2014 The subcategories were updated to honor video projects that were specifically made for social media. The four subcategories are social media, short form, long form and series.
\n2022 \u2014 Newsroom size categorizations were added to all four subcategories.
\n2020 \u2014 Subcategories were added to honor video storytelling of different lengths. The four subcategories are short form, medium form, long form and series.
\n2019 \u2014 This award was originally called Online Video Journalism and was offered from 2008\u20132011. Between 2011 and 2019, video entries were often submitted to Excellence and Innovation in Visual Digital Storytelling.<\/p>\n

Excellence in Audio Digital Storytelling
\n<\/strong>2024 \u2014 The subcategory current affairs was updated to daily\/weekly news.
\n2023 \u2014 The subcategory current affairs was added to the category.
\n2019 \u2014 The subcategories were changed from small, medium and large to ongoing series, limited series and use of audio storytelling.
\n2017 \u2014 This category was added to the program.<\/p>\n

Excellence in Collaborations and Partnerships<\/strong>
\n2018 \u2014 This award was added to the program<\/p>\n

Excellence in Community-Centered Journalism<\/strong>
\n2022 \u2014 The award name was updated from Excellence in Engaged Journalism to Excellence in Community-Centered Journalism. The two subcategories were updated to overall excellence, medium\/large newsroom and overall excellence, micro\/small newsroom.
\n2020 \u2014 The two subcategories were updated to overall excellence and micro\/small newsrooms.
\n2019 \u2014 This award was added to the program with two sub-categories: project and portfolio<\/p>\n

Excellence in Immersive and Emerging Technology Storytelling<\/strong>
\n2024 \u2014 This category was removed as a standalone award. Projects using immersive and emerging media are now reviewed within the Excellence in Visual Digital Storytelling category.
\n2023 \u2014 The category was expanded to include emerging technology. The name of this award changed from Excellence in Immersive Storytelling to Excellence in Immersive and Emerging Technology Storytelling.
\n2017 \u2014 This category was added to the program<\/p>\n

Excellence in Newsletters<\/strong>
\n2021 \u2014 Added two subcategories (single newsletter and portfolio).
\n2020 \u2014 This category was added to the program.<\/p>\n

Excellence in Social Justice Reporting<\/strong>
\n2021 \u2014 This category was added to the program.<\/p>\n

Excellence in Social Media Engagement
\n<\/strong>2022 \u2014 This category was added to the program.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Excellence in Visual Digital Storytelling<\/strong>
\n2024 \u2013 The category name was simplified from Excellence and Innovation in Visual Digital Storytelling to Excellence in Visual Digital Storytelling. The description was updated to include storytelling that uses virtual reality, artificial intelligence, AI chatbots, augmented reality, mixed reality, 360 video or other emerging media.
\n2019 \u2014 The description was changed to de-emphasize video.<\/p>\n

Explanatory Reporting<\/strong>
\n2018 \u2014 The description was refined.<\/p>\n

Feature<\/strong>
\n2018 \u2014 The description was refined.<\/p>\n

Online Commentary<\/strong>
\n2023 \u2014 Two subcategories were added, personal narrative and package of columns.
\n2016 \u2014 Went from three size tiers to one.<\/p>\n

Planned News<\/strong>
\n2018 \u2014 This category was removed from the program.<\/p>\n

Excellence in Sports Reporting<\/strong>
\n2025 \u2014 Category removed health and wellness coverage. The name of this category changed from Sports, Health and Wellness to Excellence in Sports Reporting.
\n2023 \u2014 Category was expanded to include health and wellness coverage. The name of this category changed from Sports to Sports, Health and Wellness.
\n2017 \u2014 Went from three subcategories (small, medium and large) to two (small\/medium and large).<\/p>\n

Student Journalism Award<\/strong>
\n2021 \u2014 This category was added to the program.<\/p>\n

Student Pro-Am<\/strong>
\n2021 \u2014 This category was removed from the program.<\/p>\n

The David Teeuwen Student Award<\/strong>
\n2021 \u2014 This category was removed from the program.<\/p>\n

Award for Technical Innovation in the Service of Digital Journalism
\n<\/strong>2022 \u2014 This category was removed from the program.<\/p>\n

Topical Reporting<\/strong>
\n2025 – The climate change category was expanded to offer recognition for small, medium and large newsrooms.
\n2023 \u2014 Added race, ethnicity, gender and identity as a topic for this category. Removed Olympics and Paralympics coverage and pandemic coverage as topics for this category.
\n2022 \u2014 Added Olympics and Paralympics coverage as a topic for this category.
\n2021 \u2014 Added pandemic coverage as a topic for this category.
\n2020 \u2014 This category was reintroduced to highlight a specific topic. In 2020 this was climate change reporting.
\n2018 \u2014 This category was removed from the program.<\/p>\n

3M Truth in Science Award<\/strong>
\n2025 – This category was removed from the program.
\n2022 \u2014 This category was added to the program.<\/p>\n

Excellence in Technology Reporting
\n<\/strong>2024 \u2014 This category was expanded to offer recognition for small, medium and large newsrooms.
\n2023 \u2014 This category was added to the program.<\/p>\n

Excellence in AI Innovation<\/strong>
\n2024 \u2014 This category was added to the program.<\/p>\n

Excellence in Science Reporting<\/strong>
\n2025 \u2014 This category was added to the program.<\/p>\n

Innovation in Revenue Strategy<\/strong>
\n2025 \u2014 This category was added to the program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each year, the Online Journalism Awards and Recognition Committee reassesses the categories offered and provides revisions, if deemed necessary. Below is a log of the changes made since 2016.<\/p>\n

General updates<\/strong> 2025 \u2014 Clarification is added about how independent creator … Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":1358,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7044","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nCategory Changes - Online Journalism Awards<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/journalists-org-develop.go-vip.co\/awards\/change-log\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Category Changes - Online Journalism Awards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Each year, the Online Journalism Awards and Recognition Committee reassesses the categories offered and provides revisions, if deemed necessary. 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