New $2,500 Cash Prizes Funded by Apples & Oranges Fund
AAN Publishers (AAN) announced this month that submissions for the 2025 AAN Awards are now open. For nearly 30 years, our editorial and design awards have recognized the most outstanding work in local, independent, and alternative news publishing. Each year, we celebrate the deep investigations, engaging storytelling, and creative design that make our member publications essential to their communities.
This year, we are proud to introduce the new AAN Outstanding Journalism Award with a $2,500 cash prize. In a startling era where misinformation and disinformation spread rapidly through social media and digital platforms, the role of credible, impactful journalism has never been more vital.
This award recognizes and supports news organizations that prioritize truth, accountability, and community impact. Honoring stories that expose corruption, advance public knowledge, and create measurable change reinforces journalism’s essential role in a healthy democratic society. It highlights the value of original, fact-based reporting in an age where false narratives often overshadow reality.
This award celebrates excellence in reporting and underscores journalists’ responsibility to challenge misinformation, hold power to account, and empower communities. We thank the Apples & Oranges Fund, a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation, for making this award possible. Their commitment to independent journalism and transparent governance ensures that impactful storytelling thrives.
Two more new cash prizes—$300 for Best Cover Design and $300 for another new category, Best Salesperson—will be personally funded by the members of the AAN Executive Committee.
These new awards join a series of other generous prizes that have been funded for several years now:
• Arts Criticism (Jim Ridley Award): $500 cash award funded by the Nashville Scene.
• Column (Billy Manes Award): $500 cash award funded by The Billy Manes Foundation and Watermark Out News.
• Investigative Reporting (David Carr Award): $500 cash award funded by AAN Publishers.
• LGBTQ+ Coverage: $500 cash prize funded by Colorado Springs Independent publisher and former AAN President Fran Zankowski.
With over two dozen categories spanning investigative reporting, political coverage, arts and culture writing, photography, design, and digital innovation, the AAN Awards are a cornerstone of quality journalism in our industry. We encourage all eligible members to submit their best work and showcase the outstanding journalism that makes local, alternative media indispensable.
The submission deadline is March 26, so don’t miss this opportunity to gain national recognition for your work. Qualifying organizations, visit aan.org/awards/ to review the submission guidelines and enter your work today.
