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New York, July 21, 2026 — Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) is proud to announce the launch of the Penlight Prize for excellence in paywall-free public records reporting.

The prize awards $25,000 to an outstanding piece of journalism that was made free to the public, and is substantially based on government records received via state and local public records laws or the Freedom of Information Act. Submissions will be reviewed by an all-star panel of judges with extensive experience both in public records reporting and advocacy for transparency laws.

The award was inspired by FPF’s partnership with Wired to make all articles substantially based on FOIA or public-records-based reporting paywall-free.

This year, our judges will be:

• Kate Doyle, senior analyst at the National Security Archive
• Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
• Jason Leopold, senior investigative writer at Bloomberg

The following can be attributed to Trevor Timm, FPF’s executive director:

“Journalism plays a vital role in our democracy. It informs the public and serves as a check on abuses of government and corporate power. At the same time, reporting that relies on government records generated at taxpayers’ expense should be available free for all. So we hope this award will honor the journalists who do the hard work of unearthing government documents, and will encourage news outlets to make all their public records reporting free.

“Last year, Freedom of the Press Foundation called on news organizations to remove paywalls from reporting based on FOIA records. Award-winning outlets like Wired and 404 Media joined the effort — and saw their subscriptions increase as a result. Now it’s time for others to follow their lead.”

This award is nonpartisan and does not preference a political or ideological viewpoint. It is being funded wholly by a generous FPF donor. The first-place winner will receive a $25,000 prize, a physical award, and a paid trip to New York City for a dinner and celebration later in 2026.

Submitted articles must have been available free of charge at publishing, with no paywall or obligation to subscribe. The award can be divided equally among up to four co-authors.

Find more information and apply at penlightprize.org/ by Sept. 1, 2026.

Please contact us if you would like further comment.

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