The $25,000 Collier Prize for State Government Accountability at the University of Florida recognizes the best U.S. professional reporting on state government accountability in any medium or on any platform.
Entries will be judged on how well they reflect excellence in accountability coverage of state government, with special attention paid to overcoming particular challenges or difficulties in reporting or publishing, and any significant impact from the reporting.
For the 2026 prize, entries must have been broadcast or published between Jan. 1, 2025, and Dec. 31, 2025. The deadline for accepting nominations will be 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on Jan. 31, 2026.
One of the largest journalism awards in the nation, The Collier Prize is available to any US news organization. The Collier Prize was founded by Nathan S. Collier, founder and chairman of The Collier Companies headquartered in Gainesville, Florida, to encourage coverage of state government, focusing on investigative and political reporting.
Collier said, “The greatest good the Collier Prize can have lies in creating a deterrent effect. Let it be known far and wide that someone is watching, that there are guardians, that accountability does exist.” Collier is a descendant of Peter Fenelon Collier, who in 1888 founded Collier’s, a weekly magazine focused on investigative journalism and publishing stories from renowned journalists such as Jack London, Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell and Samuel Hopkins Adams.
The prize, announced annually at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, recognizes the best U.S. professional reporting on state government accountability in any medium or on any platform and is available to any news organization.
Since it began in 2019, the Collier Prize has expanded beyond the annual competition. Today, it includes a Symposium each November featuring thought leaders and excellence in investigative reporting, a quarterly recognition program called the Collier Spotlight, an annual survey of reporters and editors and a monthly newsletter on accountability reporting trends, tools and readings to help reporters and editors tackle ambitious stories.
Click here to access the 2026 entry form and other contest information.
