Awards & Prizes

The Goldsmith Book Prize

About the award

The Goldsmith Book Prize is awarded to the trade and academic book published in the United States in the last 24 months that best fulfills the objective of improving democratic governance through an examination of the intersection between the media, politics and public policy. Recent Goldsmith Book Prizes have been awarded to books about political journalism, the history of news, news and political polarization, internet freedom, local news and digital democracy. Books that are not on the topic of media and politics will not be considered.

Financial support for the Goldsmith Awards Program is provided by an annual grant from the Goldsmith Fund of the Greenfield Foundation. The program is administered by the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Rules and Information

Submissions

Submissions for the 2025 Goldsmith Book Prize have closed. The deadline to submit was December 18, 2024, 11:59pm ET. Entries for the 2025 Goldsmith Book Prize must have been published between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024. Books outside the defined category are not eligible for an award and will not be reviewed by the award committee. All submissions must be in English. Edited volumes will not be accepted.

Prize Money

$5,000 is awarded to the winner in each category.

Submission Info

Submissions for the 2025 Goldsmith Book Prize have closed.

Questions

Please contact Lindsay Underwood at the Shorenstein Center: lindsayunderwood@hks.harvard.edu

2025 Winners

Winner, Goldsmith Book Prize: Trade

Orwell’s Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century

Laura Beers

Laura Beers, a British history professor at American University, critically examines Orwell’s enduring relevance through issues like populism, tyranny, and inequality, while challenging the obsession with his famed works, Animal Farm and 1984. She dissects Orwell’s critique of capitalism’s social prejudices and inequality, highlighting his democratic socialism and defense of individual liberty.

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Statue of George Orwell with the quote "If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear."

Winner, Goldsmith Book Prize: Academic

Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight It

Adam J. Berinsky

Adam Berinsky, an MIT political scientist, tackles the challenge of political rumors – the factually incorrect claims, such as Obama’s birth abroad, that come to be widely believed. He explores why such rumors persist, who believes them, and how to combat them, using original survey and experimental data.

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Recent Announcements

March 13, 2025

Announcing the winner of the inaugural Goldsmith Prize for Explanatory Reporting 

The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy is pleased to announce that The Washington Post’s Opinions series “Who is Government?” is the winner of the inaugural Goldsmith Prize for Explanatory Reporting. The prize will be awarded at the 2025 Goldsmith Awards ceremony on April 3 at the JFK Jr.

March 5, 2025

Announcing the Finalists for the 2025 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting

The Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School is proud to announce the six finalists for the 2025 Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting. The Goldsmith Prize, first awarded in 1993 and funded by a gift from the Greenfield Foundation, honors the best public service investigative journalism that has made an impact on local, state, or federal public policy or the practice of politics in the United States.