Public Notice Journalism Award has $1,000 prize

Think your public notice reporting is worth $1,000? Consider entering for the Michael Kramer Public Notice Journalism Award.

Reporters in the know will tell you that a great way to get story leads is to review the notices published in their papers for a potential source of news about local government operations. Reporting on that information helps ensure that matters important to their communities — including, for example, zoning applications, development plans, foreclosure auctions or filings, government and corporate disposal of private property — receive the attention they deserve.

Sponsored by the Public Notice Resource Center, the Michael Kramer Public Notice Journalism Award highlights the best newspaper reporting based on public notices. Started in 2014, the contest celebrates the reporters and editors who bring these important stories to life.

The 2025 competition will be administered by the National Newspaper Association Foundation as a category in NNAF’s Better Newspaper Contest and first place has a $1000 award. If a Missouri Press Association member would like their work to be considered as our state's nominee in the contest, please contact Matthew Barba by July 1 with information about your entry.

There is no entry fee for this award if your work is chosen to represent Missouri public notice reporting. Please see the description below for more information about what judges will be considering when picking a winner.

2025 Michael Kramer Public Notice Journalism Award — This category is for a news story or series that highlights the impact of a public notice or the omission of a public notice, helps readers understand a public notice or explains the consequences of a public body’s failure to publish a notice in a newspaper, or the consequences of publishing a notice on a government website instead of a newspaper. A successful entry will usually result from the newsroom’s having read the public notices in the newspaper and recognizing a news hook or feature opportunity coming from the subject of a particular public notice. Stories should reference and/or provide a link to the notice; or if the story is based on a public notice requirement that was not met or was deficient, it must describe the deficiency. The category is not intended for editorials advocating for more public notice or opposing changes in public notice law.