NIHCM Foundation: Local Media Award Grant

The NIHCM Foundation's Local Media Award honors outstanding local journalism that enhances understanding of health care issues in the U.S. It aims to recognize reports that improve health care affordability, accessibility, and quality. A $15,000 prize is awarded to the winner. Eligible entries must be published in 2025 and focus on local markets, offering insights relevant to health plans and policymakers. This award encourages innovative reporting that addresses the complexities of the health care system.

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.
Prize
A $15,000 prize will be presented to the winner.
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.

Eligibility

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 will be accepted from newspapers, magazines, and their websites, as well as nonprofit news organizations. 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.Limit three entries per entrant.Applicants previously eligible for the Data-Driven Storytelling Award should apply in either the Investigative and General Reporting Award or Local Media Award categories.An entry can be either a series or an individual piece of work.If part of a series, we allow for up to 8 entry items to be entered in a single application.The entrant is the person completing the form via the online entry system. An entrant can be an awards coordinator, an administrative assistant, or a leading author. Any co-authors or recognized contributors to the work should be listed. It is common for there to be no co-contributors.For the Local Media Award, an individual will be accepted as the leading author on no more than three (3) applications. Individuals may be listed on additional applications as a co-author or co-contributor.

Ineligibility

Entries from national media outlets will not be accepted in this category, and should instead apply in the Investigative and General Reporting Award category.The Investigative and General Reporting Award category will accept national stories.Documentaries and podcasts will be accepted in the Television and Audio Journalism Award category if they aired on the web in affiliation with a television or radio news organization, or through an online streaming platform.