Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
Following extensive input from Missouri Press Association’s membership and multiple meetings of a contest committee, several changes are being implemented for the Missouri Press Foundation 2026 Better Newspaper Contest and MPA’s annual awards.
Chief among the changes is the introduction of a Missouri Journalist of the Year award, which is open to all professional journalists working for a member of the Missouri Press Association.
Journalists recognized with this award have had a significant impact, locally or statewide, through their journalism work in the previous calendar year. Individuals can be nominated for this award or self-nominate.
“Missouri Press has always taken great pride in its Newspaper Hall of Fame, which inducts members as a reflection of a lifetime of work. With the introduction of this Missouri Journalist of the Year award, we have a way of recognizing someone who has made significant contributions to journalism in the previous year,” said Chad Stebbins, executive director of Missouri Press Association.
All nominations must include a cover letter highlighting the impact of the journalist’s work on their community or in the state of Missouri and a portfolio of at least five articles representing the journalist’s work in the previous year.
In addition, nominations can include letters of support for the journalist’s nomination and additional examples of the journalist’s work, including photography, information graphics, video or audio pieces.
The recipient will receive $500, a plaque and be recognized at this year’s Better Newspaper Contest awards presentation, held during the 160th Annual Convention and Trade Show in Columbia.
Nominations must be submitted by Monday, April 6, 2026, to be considered for this year’s award. A nomination form will be available through Jumbl and accessible from mopress.com beginning in early January.
BNC changes
The Contest Committee also voted to consolidate the dailies divisions in the Better Newspaper Contest (BNC) into one competing category. With more daily newspapers dropping publication days and moving to weekly or semi-weekly publications, the committee determined there are no longer enough daily newspapers to warrant having separate divisions.
Missouri’s BNC had previously condensed Dailies competition to two divisions, but categories were still going unentered or were being combined with Weeklies categories, explained Matthew Barba, editor for Missouri Press News and administrator for the BNC
“The goal of the BNC is to create a healthy competition among the participating newspapers. In recent years, Missouri Press staff found ourselves having to combine divisions often or not have any entries in some categories in the smaller division, so the committee felt like creating a single Dailies division was the best way to increase competition for all participating newspapers,” Barba said.
The consolidation to a single Dailies division reflects a similar change that was made for the Missouri Press Advertising Managers and Executives Best Ad Contest a few years ago.
Also, changed for this year’s competition is expanded language for sidebar content that can be entered in numerous categories. Entries still must consist of a written news article, but sidebar material for an entry can include multimedia items, such as video or audio content as newspapers expand how and what they report.
The 2026 Better Newspaper Contest will open Monday, Jan. 26, for members to begin uploading entries. You will have 10 weeks to enter the contest, and earlier entries will qualify for a reduction in cost ($6 per entry), with later entries costing more.
The final deadline to enter this year’s contest will be 11 p.m. Monday, April 6. This will also be the deadline to enter this year’s A-Mark Prize for Investigative Journalism.
Full contest rules will be available online at mopress.com/better-newspaper/. Please review the contest categories and email mbarba@mopress.com if you have any questions.
