Society for Features Journalism

26/06/2025

🗓️ SAVE THE DATE!

Our next free webinar is happening Tuesday, July 15 at 2 p.m. ET/ 1 p.m. CT / 11 a.m. PT.

Mallary Tenore Tarpley, who teaches journalism and writing classes at the University of Texas at Austin, will be our guest for a session on “How to blend personal narrative and reportage in essays and books.”

Tarpley draws from her experience as a journalist and as the author of her soon-to-be-released book, “Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery,” which is equal parts memoir and reporting.

Please click on the story below to learn more!

You also can follow this link to directly register for the event and save it to your calendar: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/vfX6e0FRTUWuKBoy9AnOeg #/registration

https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2025/6/19/mallary-tenore-tarpley-webinar-personal-narrative-reporting-book

On July 15, 2025, Mallary Tenore Tarpley will join SFJ in a free webinar on how to blend personal narrative and reporting. Tarpley is an assistant professor of practice at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches journalism and writing classes. Her upcoming nonfiction book, “Slip: Life

22/05/2025

🎉 Congratulations 🎉 to all the winners in our 2025 Excellence-in-Features contest!

As usual, competition was tough: Our judges fielded nearly 1,000 entries this year. So the winners truly stood out!

As we have more than a dozen categories per division (except for Combined), we have been announcing the winners by division throughout the day.

Here are the winners in Division 3 — which features newspapers with 201 or more full-time editorial employees or magazines and web-only publications with a national focus — and the Combined division.

The SFJ Board of Directors would like to extend its thanks to the many judges who volunteered their time to help SFJ celebrate the craft of storytelling in words, videos, podcasts — and, for the first time, social media portfolios.

First-place winners will receive a $300 prize.

Thank you to all contest entrants for making this annual celebration of great storytelling possible!

Here are the winners in Division 3 and the Combined division of SFJ’s 2025 Excellence-in-Features journalism contest! First-place winners receive $300.

22/05/2025

🎉 Congratulations 🎉 to all the winners in our 2025 Excellence-in-Features contest!

As usual, competition was tough: Our judges fielded nearly 1,000 entries this year. So the winners truly stood out!

As we have more than a dozen categories per division (except for Combined), we are announcing them by division throughout the day. Here are the winners in Division 2, which features newspapers with between 51 and 200 full-time employees or magazines and web-only publications with a regional or statewide focus.

The SFJ Board of Directors would like to extend its thanks to the many judges who volunteered their time to help SFJ celebrate the craft of storytelling in words, videos, podcasts — and, for the first time, social media portfolios.

First-place winners will receive a $300 prize.

Thank you to all contest entrants for making this annual celebration of great storytelling possible!

Here are the Division 2 winners of our 2025 Excellence-in-Features journalism contest! First place winners receive $300.

22/05/2025

🎉 Congratulations 🎉 to all the winners in our 2025 Excellence-in-Features contest!

As usual, competition was tough: Our judges fielded nearly 1,000 entries this year. So the winners truly stood out!

As we have more than a dozen categories per division (except for Combined), we will be announcing the winners by division throughout the day.

Here are the winners in Division 1, which features newspapers with 50 or fewer full-time editorial employees or magazines and web-only publications with a local- city-metro area focus.

The SFJ Board of Directors would like to extend its thanks to the many judges who volunteered their time to help SFJ celebrate the craft of storytelling in words, videos, podcasts — and, for the first time, social media portfolios.

First-place winners will receive a $300 prize.

Thank you to all contest entrants for making this annual celebration of great storytelling possible!

Here are the winners in Division 1 of our 2025 Excellence-in-Features journalism contest! First-place winners receive $300.

19/05/2025

⏳ COMING SOON: We will be announcing the winners of the 2025 Excellence-in-Features contest on Thursday, May 22!

Be sure to check back if you entered our contest!

31/03/2025

Across the country, features journalists are covering the impact of Trump administration decisions on our daily lives.

So it was wonderful to hear from nearly two dozen SFJ members who gathered last week for a virtual Show & Steal session. They shared popular local stories that can be replicated in other media markets (hence the name, Show & Steal!). The group also brainstormed ideas to pursue.

From your rights as a bystander if you see ICE agents to a local egg prices tracker to impacts at your local parks, it's clear there are a lot of stories to tell.

Click on our link to see the stories shared and watch our Zoom recording.

SFJ members gathered for a virtual Show & Steal story session on March 27 to learn what Trump administration related stories have resonated with readers and share ideas that others may want to replicate. From covering egg prices effects to tariff impacts to what to do if you see ICE agents, feat

06/03/2025

🗣️ Good news!

Due to demand, we have extended the deadline for entering our annual Excellence-in-Features journalism contest!
New deadline: March 12!

So if you procrastinated (it's ok! We get it!🙂 ) or are just finding out about this now, please enter!

04/03/2025

REMINDER! The deadline to enter our annual Excellence-in-Features contest is this Wednesday!

First-place winners get $300!

Categories include: narrative podcast, social media portfolio, utility feature portfolio, and first-person narrative/essay.

You can't win if you don't enter!

Details: https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2025/1/20/2025-features-contest-new-divisions-categories

21/01/2025

📣 We are thrilled to announce that our 2025 Excellence-in-Features contest is now open for submissions!
As always, first-place winners in each category receive $300.

Some things to know:
❇️ Early-bird entry fee is $50 until Feb. 18.
❇️ Regular entry fee is $55 from Feb. 19 to March 5.
❇️ We've updated our contest divisions to better reflect how newsrooms work today.
❇️ We have new categories this year, including Narrative Video, Social Media Portfolio and Special Product, Digital or Print.

Please share with the features folks in your network. Remember, you can't win unless you enter!

Society for Features Journalism’s 2025 contest to honor excellence in features storytelling is open for entries. New this year: updated contest divisions and new categories. There’s an early-bird entry free until February 18.

25/11/2024

If you missed our webinar on inclusive storytelling with SFJ award winners, don't fret! Margaret Myers shares the replay and three takeaways that resonated with the audience.

In the conversation, we learned about:
✨ the transformative power of treating community members as not only sources, but as collaborators;
🥘 how the shared understanding of traditions and experiences can lead to deeper explorations of identity and belonging;
📸 why inviting subjects’ feedback in their own representation leads to more authentic storytelling.

Thank you Justin Agrelo, Karim Shamsi-Basha, Erin Allday and Salgu Wissmath for sharing your wisdoms and your time!

Please click on the link to read more and access the replay!

Four SFJ Excellence in Features award winners share how they collaborated with community members to tell rich and personal stories in a webinar on Nov. 13, 2024. Watch the replay here.

04/11/2024

🗓 Save the date!

Our final webinar of 2024 will be Wednesday, Nov. 13, with four winners in this year's Excellence in Features contest! It will be at 1 p.m. ET / noon CT / 10 a.m. PT.

Justin Agrelo, Karim Shamsi-Basha, Erin Allday and Salgu Wissmath won in Division 3's Inclusion and Representation in Features category.

Our board member and former president Margaret Myers will guide them in a conversation about how they build trust with the communities they cover — among other topics!

Please click on the story for more information and to register!

You can also register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUsf-ygqDMrEtwPkXghksXE6mLgIDsjeTBP #/registration
Story: https://www.featuresjournalism.org/blog/2024/10/29/webinar-sfj-winners-practice-inclusive-journalism

In a webinar on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, four SFJ Excellence in Features award winners will discuss how they find stories, build trust, and prove that community-led narratives can transform both newsrooms and the communities they serve. Registration link in the story.

17/10/2024

▶ Hi! If you missed our webinar this week on longform features journalism, the video is now available!

In the hourlong conversation, 2024 Pulitzer winner Katie Engelhart and veteran editor Maria Carrillo (also a Pulitzer juror), discussed a wide range of skills and techniques that can help journalists hone their craft, including how to build trust with story sources and effectively use timelines and outlines.

Click on the story to learn more! Huge thanks to Katie and Maria for sharing their time and expertise! 💛

Katie Engelhart, winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing, talked about her winning New York Times Magazine story with Maria Carrillo, a veteran editor and Pulitzer juror, at a Society for Features Journalism webinar on Oct. 15, 2024. They discussed skills and techniques that can help j