SAJA Journalism Awards

The 2026 SAJA Awards are now open!

To submit your entry, go to https://saja.awardsplatform.com/ and login or create an account.

Submissions will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Sept. 1, for journalism awards in a variety of categories, including outstanding reporting on arts, culture and lifestyle; business news; and international coverage.

We also have our student award, the Daniel Pearl Award for investigative journalism and the General Excellence Award. And we are excited to announce a new category this year: Documentary-Short.

The SAJA Awards help further our mission of supporting newsroom diversity and promoting coverage of issues related to South Asia worldwide.

Please reach out to SAJAawards@gmail.com with any questions.

Award Categories

SAJA recognizes journalism in a number of different categories. We do not accept opinion pieces. All media formats are allowed, though video or audio submissions must not be longer than 30 minutes. The reporting can be a single piece or a series on a specific topic. Submissions must be limited to three pieces of work per entry for all categories except Short Documentary, which must be limited to one piece of work per filmmaker.

Here is a full list:

1. The Daniel Pearl Award

Established in honor of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was killed while reporting in Pakistan, this award recognizes outstanding investigative reporting about South Asia that exhibits courage and exposes important public issues.

2. Outstanding Business Reporting Award

This award recognizes outstanding news, feature or explanatory reporting in business, technology and economics about South Asia, or the worldwide South Asian diaspora.

3. Outstanding Arts, Culture, and Lifestyle Reporting Award

This award recognizes outstanding reporting about arts, culture or lifestyle about South Asia, or the worldwide South Asian diaspora.

4. Outstanding International Reporting Award

This award recognizes outstanding international reporting by a South Asian journalist. It is open to both U.S. and non-U.S. based journalists but the bulk of the reporting must be conducted outside of the U.S. or Canada.

5. General Excellence Award

This award recognizes outstanding reporting on any subject by a South Asian journalist in the U.S. or Canada. Entries should showcase distinguished work by a single journalist across categories, including topic (health, technology, etc.) and type (investigative, breaking news, explanatory, audio, video, data, live events, etc.).

6. Outstanding Student Journalism Award

This award recognizes outstanding reporting on any subject by a South Asian student studying in North America. Reporting can be in any field or medium, and can include reported opinion pieces or essays. This category is for students of South Asian origin studying in North America.

7. Outstanding Documentary-Short Award (NEW!)

This award recognizes outstanding short documentary films (40 minutes or less) focusing on South Asia. It is open to both U.S. and non-U.S. independent filmmakers. The documentary must have been screened at a film festival, streaming platform, had a theatrical release or independently distributed through the internet.

Eligibility Criteria

The submitted piece(s) of work must have:

• Appeared in a U.S. or Canadian news outlet between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025. Work published in a media outlet based in South Asia is not eligible for entry.
• Most awards require the submissions focus on subjects about one or more than one South Asian countries or the South Asian worldwide diaspora. Read the descriptions carefully. One award will recognize broader work produced by journalists and student journalists of South Asian backgrounds.
• Branded content is not eligible for an award -- submissions must be examples of independent journalism.

Other criteria:

• Awards are open to all US and Canadian media: national newspapers/TV channels, local/regional newspapers/TV channels, news and features websites, and other online platforms that DO NOT include personal or professional blogs.
• Freelancers and journalists employed by newsrooms are both eligible to apply by submitting a story published in a North American publication.
• Individuals may submit entries or organizations may enter the contest on behalf of their journalists.
• Organizations and individuals can make multiple entries. BUT the same entry/story cannot be submitted in different categories.
• Former SAJA board members are eligible to apply but they must not have served on the board since the past two years (2024-2025).
• The countries that we consider as part of "South Asia" are India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan.
• No award will be presented in any category that does not receive a minimum of 3 quality submissions.

Separate requirements for the Documentary-Short Award can be found here.

Judging