Columbia Journalism School Receives $10 Million Gift To Endow One of Nation’s Most Prestigious Journalism Awards
Alfred I duPont – Columbia University Award Winners to be announced January 25.
Columbia Journalism School today announced that its longtime partner the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, a Jacksonville, Florida-based private foundation, has donated $10 million to endow the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards. Founded in 1942 by Jessie Ball duPont in honor of her late husband Alfred I. duPont, the duPont-Columbia Awards are the premier national honors recognizing outstanding public service journalism in audio and video reporting, in broadcast, documentary and online.
“With this gift, the Jessie Ball duPont Fund is proud to help secure the future of these important awards so that we might promote the highest standards of journalism, strengthen communities and help safeguard our democracy,” said Mari Kuraishi, president of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. “A free, open and well-resourced press can set the agenda for a community, and build the will to tackle tough problems across our society.”
From local investigative reporting to international news coverage and longform journalism that gives context to the pressing issues of the day, the duPont-Columbia Awards amplify critical stories that are deeply reported and well told. With this gift, the important work can continue.
The duPont-Columbia Awards uphold journalistic ideals by celebrating excellence in reporting, informing the public about these journalists' contributions and supporting journalism education and innovation. Each year, about 15 news reports, podcasts and documentaries are honored by the duPont-Columbia Awards for the strength of their reporting, storytelling and impact in the public interest. The winning pieces are selected from hundreds of entries vetted by a board of judges. Recent winners have included CNN Films’ “Navalny,” PBS NewsHour’s breaking news coverage of Afghanistan, WNBC New York’s reporting on the COVID outbreak and KTSP Minneapolis/St. Paul for their coverage of George Floyd’s murder.
“We are deeply grateful for the generous support of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. Their longstanding commitment to honoring journalistic excellence and funding journalism education and innovation is integral to our work and mission,” said Columbia Journalism School Dean Jelani Cobb. “From local investigative reporting to international news coverage and longform journalism that gives context to the pressing issues of the day, the duPont-Columbia Awards amplify critical stories that are deeply reported and well told. With this gift, the important work can continue.”
The 2024 duPont-Columbia Award winners will be announced at a ceremony in New York City on Thursday, January 25, 2024. Finalists can be viewed here.
The duPont-Columbia Awards
Founded in 1942, the duPont-Columbia Awards uphold the highest standards in journalism by honoring winners annually, informing the public about those journalists' contributions, and supporting journalism education and innovation. The Awards have honored, for over 80 years, important stories of our time from the Civil Rights era and Vietnam to today’s racial reckoning and local accountability reporting. Since 1968, the Awards have been administered by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Columbia Journalism School
For more than a century, the Columbia Journalism School has been preparing journalists in programs that stress academic rigor, ethics, journalistic inquiry and professional practice. Founded with a gift from Joseph Pulitzer, the school opened in 1912 and offers Master of Science, Master of Arts, Master of Science in Data Journalism, a joint Master of Science degree in Computer Science and Journalism, The Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism and a Doctor of Philosophy in Communications. It houses the Columbia Journalism Review, the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights and the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma. The school also administers many of the leading journalism awards, including the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes, the John Chancellor Award, the J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project, the John B. Oakes Award for Distinguished Environmental Journalism, the Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma, the Paul Tobenkin Memorial Award and the Mike Berger Award.
The Jessie Ball duPont Fund
The Jessie Ball duPont Fund is a private foundation that works to expand access to opportunity and create inclusive growth for the people, organizations and communities that Jessie Ball duPont knew and loved. We envision a world in which every member of those communities feels they belong, and is engaged in shaping the future of their community. We use our grantmaking, investments, research and partnerships to increase equitable access to opportunities and resources for members of society who have historically been excluded, and placemaking to build stronger communities where all voices are heard and valued. Learn more at www.dupontfund.org.