Nominations for Ida B. Wells Award Now Open

The Ida B. Wells Award is given to any individual who has increased the hiring, promotion and/or news coverage of underrepresented groups.

Nominations for the 2017 Ida B. Wells Award are now open and can be accessed through the NABJ website. Nominations are due May 19, 2017.
 
The Ida B. Wells Award is given to any individual who has increased the hiring, promotion and/or news coverage of underrepresented groups.
 
A distinguished journalist, fearless reporter and wife of one of America's earliest black publishers, Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was owner and editor of the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight. She told her male co-founders she would not help launch the newspaper unless she was made equal to them. In the late 19th century, she won acclaim on two continents for her fearless crusade against lynchings. She championed an integrated society and urged black Americans to claim their rightful share of jobs in the emerging industrial society. Today her Chicago home is a National Historic Landmark.


The award is given by the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and Medill, and a jury of NABJ and Medill representatives are in charge of selecting the recipients. The winner is awarded with a bust that has a notation of the specific reasons and actions that are being recognized. It is presented at NABJ’s Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.