About the Goldsmith Prize for Explanatory Reporting:

Criteria and Eligibility

Submissions will be accepted only from the U.S. news media and publications or individuals operating under journalistic standards and ethics. Newspapers, magazines, broadcast media, radio, podcasts, and online news organizations are eligible.  

Documentary films may be submitted for consideration if they have had public distribution (in theaters, online, through streaming platforms, on television, or through other publicly-accessible distribution channels) in the United States during the eligibility window. Films that have only been shown in film festivals, or which are not available to watch within the United States, will not be considered.

Content that has been created by a government entity, nonprofit, or other non-news institution, either for research/informational purposes or for the purpose of promoting itself or another institution, is not eligible. 

Original broadcast or publication must have occurred between January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025. Series may be submitted as one entry, but only elements of the series that were first published during this timeframe will be considered as part of the official submission for consideration. Films that have not been in public distribution in the United States during this time period are not eligible.

No more than five entries may be submitted by a news organization or production entity. If entries were produced in collaboration with another organization, the lead organization must submit the entry and list any secondary partner organizations/collaborators. If your organization is listed as a secondary partner/collaborator in an entry submitted by another news organization this does not count towards your five allowed entries.

Books will not be accepted as submissions for this prize. 

Prize Money

The winning entry receives $15,000. No other cash awards are given for this prize. Prize money is paid directly to credited authors, editors, producers, or other members of the team that created the winning entry, not to their organizations. Prize money can be distributed to organizations only in circumstances where documented organizational ethics rules dictate that employees cannot receive prize payments. In these cases the expectation is that the reporting team will participate in decisions about how the money is spent, and that it will go to the direct and additive benefit of the reporters and their work.