Annual awards for INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE in Newspapers, News Services, Digital, Magazines, Radio, Podcasts, Television, Video, Cartoons, Books and Photography.

ELIGIBILITY: Work must be published or broadcast in the U.S. or by a U.S.-based company or be accessible to an American audience for the first time during 2023 with reporting primarily outside the U.S.

GENERAL DEADLINE: January 31, 2024 (11:59 p.m. Eastern Time)

CORNELIUS RYAN BOOK AWARD DEADLINE: January 8, 2024 (11:59 p.m. Eastern Time)

AWARDS DINNER - April 25, 2024 at Cipriani 25 Broadway

GENERAL RULES
Entries can be submitted only through the OPC’s online submission process which will include the application, the work and a brief statement explaining why the entry deserves consideration. Material may be the work of an individual, group or staff but must be on one subject or theme.

Each entry is $200, and payment options are outlined on the application page.

IMPORTANT UPDATES:

NEW AWARD: The Continuing Coverage of Conflict Award for best reporting on a continuing international conflict or crisis in any medium has been established.

The Bob Considine award has been renamed The William Worthy Award for best newspaper, news service or digital interpretation of international affairs. Worthy was an African-American journalist who quickly earned a reputation for venturing into forbidden places to report on the effects of war, revolution and colonialism.

The Feature Photography Award has been renamed The Danish Siddiqui Award for best feature photography on an international theme published in any medium. Siddiqui, a citizen of India, was a photographer with Reuters who was killed by Taliban forces while covering their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

The Malcolm Forbes Award and The Morton Frank Award have been combined into one award for best international business news reporting in any medium.

For media organizations submitting five (5) or more entries: You must pay a lump sum by check or ACH payment instead of paying online. After you have submitted all of your entries please download the PDF form (OPC Awards Multiple Entry Form), fill in the information about your entries, and email it to info@opcofamerica.org. OPC Executive Director Patricia Kranz will cross-check this list with our records. Once the number of entries is confirmed, she will email you an invoice. 

Freelancers who find it difficult to pay the full fee should contact patricia@opcofamerica.org for information about financial aid.

The same piece of work may be entered in more than one category. One organization may submit up to five entries per award category. Each entry must comply with the rules for the individual category.

Many categories allow multiple print articles, multimedia pieces, or video programs in a series as part of the same entry. It is best not to submit “a body of work” such as “reporting from Asia” — these categories are too generalized and too long. We do not set a limit for the total number of pieces in a single entry, but it is best to be selective and submit only the strongest material.

Books can be submitted only for the Olivier Rebbot Award and the Cornelius Ryan Award.

All award winners receive a certificate and a $1,000 prize.

Only one saved “draft” is allowed at one time per category in Submittable.   

CONTEST INFORMATION

All questions concerning the awards should be directed to Patricia Kranz, Executive Director of the Overseas Press Club of America, email info@opcofamerica.org or call 917 971-0746.

ENTRIES CANNOT BE RETURNED. SUBMITTING WILL ASSUME PERMISSION FOR THE ENTRY TO APPEAR IN THE OPC MAGAZINE DATELINE, ON THE OPC WEBSITE AND IN OPC PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS FOR THE AWARDS DINNER AND/OR COMPETITION.

-----------------------------------------

A complete list of the 22 awards follows:

Newspapers, News Services, Print or Digital

The Hal Boyle Award

Best newspaper, news service or digital reporting from abroad.

The William Worthy Award

Best newspaper, news service or digital interpretation of international affairs.

The Ed Cunningham Award

Best magazine-style, long-form narrative feature in print or digital on an international story.

The Madeline Dane Ross Award

Best international reporting in the print medium or digital showing a concern for the human condition.

The Kim Wall Award

Best story or series of stories on international affairs using creative and dynamic digital storytelling techniques.

TV, Video, Radio or Podcast

The Lowell Thomas Award

Best radio, audio, or podcast coverage of international affairs.

The David Kaplan Award

Best TV or video spot news reporting from abroad.

The Edward R. Murrow Award

Best TV, video or documentary interpretation of international affairs with a run time up to 30 minutes.

The Peter Jennings Award

Best TV, video or documentary about international affairs with a run time over 30 minutes.

The David A. Andelman and Pamela Title Award

Best international TV, video, radio, audio or podcast reporting showing a concern for the human condition.

Any Medium (Excluding photos, books and cartoons)

The Continuing Coverage of Conflict Award

Best reporting on a continuing international conflict or crisis in any medium.

The Malcolm Forbes and Morton Frank Award

Best international business news reporting in any medium.

The Joe and Laurie Dine Award

Best international reporting in any medium dealing with human rights.

The Whitman Bassow Award

Best reporting in any medium on international environmental issues.

The Robert Spiers Benjamin Award

Best reporting in any medium on Latin America.

The Roy Rowan Award

Best investigative reporting in any medium on an international story.

The Flora Lewis Award

Best commentary in any medium on international news.

Photography

The Robert Capa Gold Medal Award

Best photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise published in any medium.

The Olivier Rebbot Award

Best photographic news reporting from abroad in any medium.

The Danish Siddiqui Award

Best feature photography on an international theme published in any medium.

Books

The Cornelius Ryan Award

Best non-fiction book on international affairs.

Cartoon

The Best Cartoon Award

Best print or digital graphic journalism, including cartoons, on international affairs.

-------------------------------------

Please follow the rules and guidelines below for each of the award category types. 

PRINT
Provide permanent links to all work that will be entered for judging at the bottom of the “Brief statement” field on the entry form OR in an optional PDF attachment, making sure to include any passwords required to view. DO NOT SEND additional materials to the OPC office.

GUIDELINES: It is best not to submit “a body of work” such as “reporting from Asia” — these categories are too generalized and too long. We do not set a limit for total number of articles, but it is best to be selective and submit only the strongest material.

There can only be one nominee per submission for the Flora Lewis Award for best commentary. 

BOOKS
All books should be submitted electronically. DO NOT MAIL HARD COPIES OF BOOKS TO THE OPC OFFICE. Upload a PDF copy of the book in the awards submission form or provide a download link where prompted.

Please do not provide copies with DRM or other copy-limiting technology, and do not include watermarks over the text; the text should be easily readable. Page proofs are not acceptable.

PHOTOGRAPHY
Pictures must provide an accurate and fair representation of the scene witnessed. The content of a picture cannot be altered by adding, rearranging, reversing, distorting or removing people or objects from within the frame. The judges may request to see raw files for review.

Submissions for the Robert Capa Gold Medal Award may only be by a single photographer. Submissions for the Olivier Rebbot Award and Danish Siddiqui Award may have a maximum of three photographers’ bylines for each submission.

Upload high resolution photos to the contest website. DO NOT SEND DVDs or CDs to the OPC office. Title the uploads by award last name, nominee’s first initial and last name and number the jpgs, for example: rebbot_jdoe_a1.jpg

Send no more than 12 images (images 10 inches at longest dimension, 300 dpi, JPEG) with captions for each image in a separate Word Document and also embedded in the image IPTC information or description field. In addition to photos, you must submit proof of publication. Scan and create a PDF from a newspaper tearsheet, magazine article, book or website link. Photos commissioned by a non-profit organization are eligible as long as they are also published by a news organization or a news-related nonprofit. Upload everything into one .zip folder: images, Word document, proof of publication in PDF and IPTC information.

CARTOON
Upload high-resolution images. DO NOT SEND printed cartoons or portfolios to the OPC. Title uploads by award name, nominee’s first initial and last name and entry title (e.g.: thomas_jdoe_title1.jpg). In addition to the cartoons, submit proof of publication — for example, PDF from newspaper or magazine, or website link. Submit no more than 12 images (images 10 inches at longest dimension, 300dpi, JPEG). Upload all images and proof of publication in one zip folder.

For cartoons about international events not published originally in English, all entries in the cartoon category should have an English translation provided along with the entry submission. Submissions without a translation will not be considered.

There can only be one nominee per submission for the Best Cartoons Award category. 

TELEVISION
For the David Kaplan Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, the Peter Jennings Award and the David A. Andelman and Pamela Title Award, fill out the online OPC application and include links to your work, making sure to include any passwords required to view. The video may reside on any server, personal or corporate, or on a free service like youtube.com where the video privacy settings are checked as “unlisted” so they are not available in a search query but are viewable to those with a link. Read more about where to update video privacy settings in youtube.com.

RADIO/AUDIO
Provide a link (or links) for judges to listen to the submitted work via streaming or a hosted audio file. DO NOT SEND CDs or DVDs to the OPC office. 

DIGITAL
Entries must include: URLs/links to the work(s) nominated and must be available online and include any passwords required to view.

JUDGING
Head judges have the discretion to move an entry to another award if they feel that the entry is submitted in an inappropriate category.