New Jersey, June 26, 2024 – On October 15, 2024, the Corporation for New Jersey Local Media (CNJLM) will host the fourth annual Byrne Kean Dinner, a gala that honors the bipartisan legacies of beloved governors Brendan Byrne and Tom Kean, and builds on their famous “Byrne-Kean Dialogues” in the Star-Ledger by recognizing excellence in New Jersey journalism. For the fourth consecutive year, CNJLM intends to honor three journalists or teams of journalists with its annual New Jersey Journalism Impact Awards. This year will also see the addition of a new awards category: Impact in Student Journalism, a category that will recognize excellence in high school- and college-level journalism.

Nominations are now open for these awards, which will honor New Jersey journalists who have significantly impacted civic engagement in the state, either by educating the public about political or social issues or by investigating issues for the general public that they would not have otherwise known about.

Four awards will be conferred:
– Lifetime Achievement in Journalism will be awarded to a nominee whose career in journalism, whether it began in New Jersey or was focused on the state, has been characterized by excellence in reporting and whose work enhanced the civic engagement and public knowledge that is critical to a democratic society.
– Statewide Impact in Journalism will recognize the best story or series of stories, published between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, that illuminated an issue or issues of statewide importance in New Jersey.
– Local Impact in Journalism will be awarded for a story or series of stories, published between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024, that illuminated an issue or issues for the general public at a local or regional level in New Jersey.
– Impact in Student Journalism will be awarded for a story or stories, published or broadcast during the 2023-2024 school year in a college or high school newspaper, that illuminated an issue or issues of importance to the college or school community in New Jersey.

Nominations for the Lifetime Achievement, Statewide Impact, and Local Impact Awards will be accepted until August 31. Nominations for the Impact in Student Journalism Award will be accepted until September 15. Following these deadlines, the Byrne Kean Awards Committee will choose the honorees. The awards committee will be composed of four external judges who are not employed by CNJLM.

The awards are open to all kinds of media, including print, digital, broadcast, and interactive. To be eligible for a Local Impact, Statewide Impact, or Impact in Student Journalism Awards, the work must have been published or broadcast in the timeframe specified by a New Jersey-based news organization. To be eligible for the Lifetime Impact Award, the individual must have dedicated a significant portion of their career to journalism in New Jersey.

These awards are the only ones in the state that take into consideration a wide range of work by individuals and teams of journalists. Additionally, the Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award is the only New Jersey-focused lifetime achievement award for journalism in the state.

Past recipients of the New Jersey Journalism Impact Awards include:
– Legendary political columnist Charles Stile of the Bergen Record/NorthJersey.com received the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award in New Jersey Journalism;
– John Reitmeyer, budget and finance reporter for NJ Spotlight News, and Riley Yates, lead data reporter for NJ Advance Media for nj.com and The Star-Ledger received the 2023 New Jersey Journalism Statewide Impact Award;
– Jessie Gomez from Chalkbeat Newark received the 2023 New Jersey Journalism Local Impact Award for her reporting on diversity, equity, and inclusion in Newark schools;
– Jerry Izenberg, legendary Star-Ledger sports columnist of more than 60 years, who was a confidante of Muhammad Ali, received the 2022 Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award.
– Kelly Heyboer of the Star-Ledger received the 2022 Statewide Impact Award for “The Quiet Room,” her exposé on how school districts lock unruly youngsters in so-called “quiet rooms” as a form of discipline and punishment.
– Jordan Gass-Pooré and her team from NJ Spotlight TV News received the 2022 Local Impact Award for “Hazard NJ,” a series of podcasts and reports in NJ Spotlight TV News laying out the threat posed by New Jersey’s Superfund sites.
– Michael Aron, chief political correspondent for New Jersey Network and NJTV, in a career that spanned eight governors, received the 2021 Lifetime Achievement in Journalism Award.
– Sue Livio and Ted Sherman, and Blake Nelson and Joseph Atmonavage of the Star-Ledger and NJ.com received the 2021 Statewide Impact in Journalism Awards for their investigative reporting on COVID 19 in nursing homes and assaults on female inmates at the Edna Mahan Correctional Institute for Women in Hunterdon County, respectively.
– Scott Fallon and Lindy Washburn of The Record of Hackensack and NorthJersey.com, and Jennifer Jean Miller received the 2021 Local Impact in Journalism Awards for their investigative reporting on the deadly coronavirus outbreak at the state-run Paramus Veterans Home and for reporting on the discovery of 18 bodies stacked in a makeshift morgue at the Andover Subacute nursing facility, respectively.

Nomination Details:
Nominations of journalists from underrepresented backgrounds and those who identify as part of a marginalized community are encouraged.

Multiple nominations from a single publication are eligible in each category.

Teams of reporters are encouraged to apply; if awarded, each journalist named in the nomination will be honored.

Only one award will be presented per category.

Awards will be presented at the Byrne Kean Dinner at the Park Avenue Club in Florham Park on Tuesdays, October 15, and winners will be invited to attend with a guest.
Submit nominations here: https://newsweneed.org/bk-nominations-2024/.

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Corporation for New Jersey Local Media builds strong communities through journalism and civic engagement. The organization seeks to enhance civic engagement by promoting professional community journalism, fostering public discussion of critical issues, and expanding access to educational programs. Learn more at www.newsweneed.org.