JOURNALISTS around the world are invited to submit their best work for the 2026 Solutions Journalism Network (SJN) Awards, which honour outstanding reporting that not only exposes social problems but also investigates credible responses to them.
This is according to a statement issued by SJN which said that the entries would be judged based on the submission’s strength in meeting its defined four pillars of solutions journalism.
“The submission’s adherence to the US-based Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. Factors such as accuracy, fairness, balance and adherence to professional standards.
“To efficiently manage the high volume of submissions, an AI tool built to identify solutions journalism will be used to assist in the initial evaluation of entries. This tool will serve as a pre-screening aid to help identify reporting relevant to the goals of this solutions journalism awards contest. Importantly, the AI does not replace human judgment. All final decisions will be made by judges, with human oversight present throughout the evaluation process,” the statement explained.
The organisation said its 2026 award cycle was open to entries published or aired between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025, across any newsroom size or individual journalistic practice.
“The news source and journalist must demonstrate no vested interest in the initiative mentioned in the narrative. The news source can specialise in an issue area, but its stories should not represent or reflect the views of special interests or provide publicity for a specific product or approach, or an affiliated organisation. Stories that are paid content will not qualify,” it added.
It noted that one of the top honours in this year’s programme is the General Excellence in Solutions Journalism Award, where a single winner will receive $1,000 for an exceptional body of solutions-driven reporting.
It added that each specialist category would award $500 to first-place winner, $250 second-place winner, and $150 third-place winner.
“Acknowledgement of Publishing Submissions to the Solutions Story Tracker: All award winners will be added to SJN’s Solutions Story Tracker. Award finalists may be added to the Story Tracker at the discretion of Story Tracker leadership.
“The SJN staff and awards judges reserve the right to reassign an entry to a different category or to withhold an award in any category if deemed appropriate,” it said.
SJN announced several specialist categories recognising excellence across diverse reporting formats. These include Best of Solutions Journalism in News Articles, Best of Solutions Journalism in Video, Best of Solutions Journalism in Audio, Best of Solutions Journalism in Visual Image, and Best of Solutions Journalism in Multimedia, Best of Student Solutions Journalism.
SJN said the awards aimed to spotlight proven models and groundbreaking reporting that showed how individuals, communities, and institutions responded to critical challenges from public health and education to governance, climate, conflict, economic inclusion, and social justice.
The deadline for nominations is February 27, 2026.
Independent journalists are also encouraged to apply and journalists whose work deeply interrogates solutions, highlights nuance and drives public understanding of what works and what doesn’t are encouraged to apply here.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.