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The Robin Toner Program in Political Reporting

Entries for 2021 Toner Prizes now closed

Deadline Extended to Enter for Toner Prize for 2013 Political Reporting

Deadline for entries for the  $5,000 Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting for 2013 coverage has been extended to Jan. 21, 2014.

The Toner Prize recognizes outstanding political reporting in a tribute to Robin Toner, the late national political correspondent for The New York Times and a summa cum laude graduate of Syracuse University with dual degrees in journalism and political science.  The prize is administered by the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Deadline for entries is Jan. 21, 2014, by midnight. Entries should be submitted online at Toner Prize entry form. Or click on Toner Prize ad on the right sidebar.

“We’re delighted to celebrate democracy and good journalism with the Toner Prize,” said Charlotte Grimes, the Knight Chair in Political Reporting and administrator of The Robin Toner Program in Political Reporting. “This will be our fourth year of awarding the prize and we look forward to again honoring the kind of extraordinary reporting that was a hallmark of the work of Robin Toner.”

The 2012 Toner Prize winner was Molly Ball of The Atlantic for her reporting on the 2012 election, including coverage of the presidential candidates and the campaign around gay-marriage referenda in four states. The first prize, in 2010, went to Craig Harris of The Arizona Republic for an eight-part series on Arizona’s broken and expensive public pension plan. The 2011 Toner Prize was awarded to Jane Mayer of The New Yorker for her indepth look at a prominent political donor’s influence on North Carolina politics.

The Toner Prize is part of The Robin Toner Program in Political Reporting at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Toner’s family, friends and classmates have created the Robin Toner Endowed Fund to raise a $1-million endowment to support the program.

The Toner Prize goes to the best national or local political reporting on any platform – print, broadcast or online. Entries must be fact-based reporting, not commentary.  Single articles, series or a body of work are eligible. Stories can be on campaigns and elections or the politics around public policy. The work must have been published, posted or broadcast between Jan. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2013.

Entries will be judged on how well they reflect the high standards and depth of reporting that marked Toner’s work. In particular, the judges will look for how well the entries:

  •  Illuminate the electoral process or
  • Reveal the politics of policy and
  •   Engage the public in democracy.

In her journalism career, Toner spent nearly 25 years with The New York Times, covering five presidential campaigns, scores of congressional and gubernatorial races and many of the country’s major political and policy issues. Toner died in December 2008.

For more information, contact Charlotte Grimes, at Syracuse University, (315)443-2366 or cgrimes@syr.edu.