Awards
A commitment to honoring the past, present and future of journalism.
The Deadline Club Awards
The Deadline Club’s journalism competition, one of the most prestigious in New York, stretches back to 1957, when the club introduced the James Wright Brown Award honoring outstanding journalistic achievement in the metropolitan area. That first prize was presented to The New York Journal-American for the paper’s role in the capture of George Metesky, the “Mad Bomber.” In 1968, legendary cartoonist Rube Goldberg sculpted his “dead line” for the annual competition that today recognizes the best in journalism across 36 categories.
The annual awards receive hundreds of entries comprising all media types. Nearly 100 volunteer judges—all experienced journalists—participated in examining each entry for fairness, balance and accuracy; thoroughness, timeliness and clarity; news language and technical skills exhibited; enterprise, resourcefulness and obstacles overcome; effort involved in preparation; and the story’s interest and importance to the public.
While only one winner in each category will take home the coveted “dead line” statuette—affectionately dubbed the Rube after its creator, the iconic Pulitzer Prize–winning cartoonist and sculptor Rube Goldberg—simply being named a finalist in this contest says a great deal about the quality of each selected work.
Support the contest
For 100 years, the Deadline Club has advocated for the rights of journalists, created a community for journalists and supported aspiring journalists, in addition to recognizing exceptional journalism.
Your support of the Awards Dinner will help sustain the Deadline Club’s professional development programs and our scholarship awards, which also will be presented at the dinner.
Learn about sponsorship opportunities on the following page. Contact awards@deadlineclub.org for more information. Thank you for your consideration.
As part of the awards dinner, the Deadline Club recognizes and honors the best in high school journalism teaching and advising with The Robert Greenman Award for Excellence in High School Journalism and Advising. In 2025, the Club introduced the Press Pass NYC / School Administrator of the Year award, which recognizes a New York City public school administrator whose leadership demonstrates unwavering commitment to student journalists, journalism educators, and student press freedom.
In addition, the Deadline Club supports and encourages journalism in the metropolitan area through its annual scholarship program. Each year, the Club awards $2,500 scholarships to students for their extraordinary dedication to storytelling in underrepresented communities and their role as examples of truth and fairness for young journalists everywhere. Learn about the accomplishments and future endeavors of the recent winners here.
Subscribe to the Deadliner
Stay on top of deadlines, announcements and more surrounding all of the Deadline Club awards. Click here to sign up for our newsletter and keep up with all future updates.