High School Journalism Academy

 

Congratulations to our 2025 award winners! This event celebrates journalistic and creative work produced by high school students in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.

Our second annual awards event is scheduled for Saturday, May 30, 2026. Applications will be open during two periods:

• Jan. 12 to Jan. 30, 2026
• April 10 to May 1, 2026

Applicants will be invited to a journalism workshop at Carleton University on the afternoon of May 30 (subject to maximum capacity limits). Winners will be announced at a special event later that day.

Entry Requirements

Students will be invited to submit work to one of the following categories. (Please note that there is a limit of two authors per piece of submitted work.)

Best Feature Writing
This category honours features for high quality reporting, with depth of research, analysis, insight and new understanding of a single story or subject. Qualifying entries may also include profiles. Depth and quality of the journalism and writing will be considered, as well as the relevance and impact of a subject or event being clearly outlined to audiences through analysis, storytelling, and overall presentation. (Note that while a news story ordinarily employs a more direct, neutral and strictly fact-based approach, features tend to be more engaging and descriptive, often employing a more narrative-driven or thematic structure and vivid imagery.)

Best Reporting on a Local Issue
This category honours news stories that cover a local story or subject with depth and insight, outlining its value and connection to the local community. Qualifying entries may also include profiles. (An issue will be considered “local” if the sources and impact are within the City of Ottawa boundary.)

Best Reporting on School Community
This category honours news stories about a subject, issue or theme related to your school community with depth and insight, outlining its value and connection to the school and its network and community. Qualifying entries may also include profiles.

Best Visual Storytelling
This category honours storytelling through video, photography, graphics, data visualization, and/or other graphic and visual aids. Quality and impact of visuals and their effectiveness in expressing a story or subject’s depth and detail will be considered.

Best in Creative Writing: Poetry
This category honours excellence in creative writing in poetry form.

Best in Creative Writing: Other
This category honours excellence in creative writing using short fiction, personal essays or other non-poetry forms.