Local Media Award
The NIHCM Foundation Local Media Award recognizes excellence in local reporting that can help health plans, policymakers, health care delivery, health care consumers, and related stakeholders improve the affordability, accessibility, and quality of US health care.
Application Information
Winners for the 2nd Annual Local Media Award were announced in late April.
Please contact Mikayla Thompson at mthompson@nihcm.org with any questions
2nd Annual Local Media Award Process
Prize
A $15,000 prize will be presented to the winner.
Have questions about our Local Media Award?
Award FAQEligibility
- Articles or stories must originally have been published during the calendar year 2025.
- Entry can be either an individual story or a series. Stories must be advertised and disseminated as an official series in order to be submitted as one entry.
- Entries must be produced by a local media outlet and principally focused on a local market. Entries from national media outlets will not be accepted in this category, and should instead apply in the Investigative and General Reporting Award category.
- All entries should include a focus on health care affordability, including increasing knowledge of the drivers and impacts of rising health care costs, or identifying solutions to improve health care access and quality. Entries should produce new insights that are relevant to health plans, policymakers, health care delivery, and/or related stakeholders.
- All entries should focus on health care in the United States.
Entry
- Deadline: February 3, 2026 at 11:59 pm ET
- Entry is free
- Limit three entries per entrant. Please see the FAQs for more information.
- An article or series can only be submitted to one category.
- Please contact Mikayla Thompson at mthompson@nihcm.org if you are unable to submit or have any questions.
Selection Criteria
- Quality, originality, and creativity of reporting on a local market.
- Entry produces new insights or impact that can inform efforts to improve health care affordability, including by increasing knowledge of the drivers and impacts of rising health care costs, or identifying solutions to improve health care access and quality.
- Entries should produce new insights that are relevant to health plans, policymakers, health care delivery, and/or related stakeholders.
Judges
Robin Erb
Bridge Michigan
Anastassia Gliadkovskaya
Fierce Healthcare
Susan Livio
The Star-Ledger and NJ.com
Anna Wilde Mathews
The Wall Street Journal
Mark Miller
Arnold Ventures
Fred Schulte
KFF Health News