The results are in for the Illinois Journalism Education Association’s annual Newspaper & Digital News Media Contest! This year we received nearly 900 entries from a total of 30 schools.
In recognition of the outstanding work that Illinois high school journalists produced from March 2025 to March 2026, we are proud to announce our 2026 winners:
Division 1 | Enrollment up to 599
• D1 Individual Winners
• D1 Best Publication Winners
• D1 Winners Gallery
Division 2 | Enrollment 600 to 1,299
• D2 Individual Winners
• D2 Best Publication Winners
• D2 Winners Gallery
Division 3 | Enrollment 1,300 to 2,099
• D3 Individual Winners
• D3 Best Publication Winners
• D3 Winners Gallery
Division 4 | Enrollment 2,100 to 2,529
• D4 Individual Winners
• D4 Best Publication Winners
• D4 Winners Gallery
Division 5 | Enrollment 2,530 and above
• D5 Individual Winners
• D5 Best Publication Winners
• D5 Winners Gallery
Congratulations to all of this year’s winning students — and to everyone who competed! You make us proud to be part of Illinois scholastic journalism!
ADVISERS: Before we send out digital award certificates recognizing your individual and publication winners, please notify Katie Fernandez ([email protected]) by 4 p.m. April 29 if any of your students’ names have been misspelled. The names of student winners are currently listed as they were spelled on the BNC contest entry forms. We will correct any misspellings that we are informed of.
Publication collage created by Dave Porreca, CJE. Featured clockwise from top left: Kaneland High’s Kaneland Krier, Harrisburg High’s Purple Clarion, Maine West’s Westerner, Prospect High’s The Prospector, Downers Grove South High’s Blueprint, and University of Chicago Laboratory High’s U-High Midway.
