Best of Photojournalism Competition moves to UGA and Grady College

The National Press Photographers Association has announced a new partnership with the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication to promote, organize and archive the annual Best of Photojournalism Competition.

The contest’s 100 categories span still, video, multimedia and editing disciplines and draw entries from around the world. The 2019 competition will mark the first time in more than five decades that all disciplines are housed together.

The decision follows a year-long, competitive process the NPPA began in 2017. The partnership will allow all entries from the Best of Photojournalism Competition to be permanently archived at the University of Georgia’s Special Collections Libraries, and Grady College will develop case studies based on the winning entries for the benefit of classrooms, newsrooms and independent journalists to help them improve their own storytelling.

“Grady College welcomes the Best of Photojournalism contest, which for us signifies the strengthening of a relationship that began with the relocation of the National Press Photographers Association to the college in 2015,” said Grady College Dean Charles Davis. “This agreement strengthens our shared educational mission and provides the contest with a most important archival home.”

“Over the past year, NPPA’s Board of Directors has given a great deal of consideration in evaluating all of its options for a home to its flagship contests,” said newly-elected NPPA President Michael P. King. “We are excited about this next chapter in our contests’ history and look forward to growing our partnership with the University of Georgia.”

The University of Georgia will spend much of 2018 working with the NPPA to develop a new contest entry system and updating entry rules and procedures in advance of the opening of the 2019 contest.

The National Press Photographers Association is dedicated to the advancement of visual journalism – its creation, practice, training, editing and distribution – in all news media.  For more than seven decades, NPPA has supported visual journalists through advocacy, workshops, certifications and competitions to equip its members and prepare the emerging generation of visual journalists in the face of an ever-changing media landscape.  NPPA has continuously published News Photographer magazine since 1946, and it is considered to be the authoritative source on news, issues, trends and information about visual journalism. Affiliated with the NPPA is the National Press Photographers Foundation Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, charged with advancing press photography through education and awarding scholarships and fellowships to deserving students who have demonstrated ability or promise in the field of photojournalism.  For more information, see www.nppa.org or follow @NPPA on Twitter.