Opportunities

The Meyer “Mike” Berger Award

The Meyer “Mike” Berger Award and its $1,500 prize is awarded for outstanding human interest reporting across platforms. Print, radio, broadcast and digital reporting are eligible for the award. All entries must have been published in the U.S. during 2016, though in the case of a series or ongoing story, work that appeared in January 2017 will be accepted. Journalists who report in a foreign language should submit copies of original stories with an English translation. No entry fee is required.

How to Nominate

ALL materials should be formatted and uploaded as PDFs. Supporting multimedia presentations can be sent as URLs. Links must remain live.

If you know a journalist who deserves to be recognized, please submit the completed nomination form and pertinent material.

To nominate a journalist, please submit the following materials:

  • A brief letter from the editor indicating the scope of the reporter’s work.
  • A brief biography of the reporter.
  • Up to five articles/pieces published in 2016 that best typify the reporter’s work.

Please keep in mind:

  • A series must be designated as such by the publication when it is printed; a regular column may also be submitted as a series.
  • If material lives online, please provide direct links.
  • For all visual elements, the name of the photographer or graphic artist should be included on all entry forms.
  • Supporting material will not be returned.

NOMINATE(link is external)

About

Members of the faculty of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism judge the entries. The award, which consists of a certificate from Columbia and a $1,500 prize, is conferred annually at the School’s Journalism Day ceremony in May.

Berger won a 1950 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting for his story on a veteran who went on a shooting spree in Camden, New Jersey, killing several residents. He then re­introduced the newspaper’s “About New York” column in the early 1950s, setting the standard for evocative and eloquent human interest reporting. Berger passed away in 1959. Louis Schweitzer, a New York industrialist who admired Berger’s work, created the Berger Award in 1960.