Nominations for Dan Rather Medals begin Jan. 1
Nominations will be accepted starting Jan. 1 for the Dan Rather Medals for News and Guts, which are awarded each year to a professional and college journalist who have gone the extra mile to hold people and institutions accountable.
The Dan Rather Medals were created in 2020 by The University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication, with Rather’s guidance, to honor courageous journalism and to encourage reporters to pursue necessary stories.
Every year, a committee that includes journalists and journalism educators chooses one professional winner and one student media winner. Each receives a Dan Rather Medal and a $5,000 cash prize.
Anyone may nominate a journalist or team of journalists for a specific piece produced over the past year. Journalists may also nominate themselves.
To be eligible, submissions and nominations must be journalistic content from U.S. news media, including text, audio, broadcast, video or graphics, published and aired to the public between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2025.
Nominations will be accepted starting Jan. 1 and will close Jan. 31.
Freelance journalists are eligible, as are collaborations among journalists. Collaborations will count as one submission. Journalists, a team of journalists, organizations or collaborations can submit up to two entries. Each nomination must come with a detailed statement, up to 600 words, describing how the content meets the selection criteria of overcoming extraordinary conditions in reporting.
More information about eligibility requirements is available on the Dan Rather Medals website.
The committee will review all submissions in February, with winners expected to be announced in early April.
Previous winners have included reporting about government corruption, police violence, civil rights violations, the international weapons trade, worker exploitation, lawlessness by traffickers and smugglers on the seven oceans and abuse by coaches on college campuses.
"Holding the powerful accountable is one of the most important duties of journalism," Rather said during a ceremony honoring the 2025 recipients.
Rather started working as a journalist in his native Texas in 1950 and was the “CBS Evening News” anchor from 1981 to 2005. He has been a staunch supporter of the School of Journalism and Media at UT Austin and is a permanent member of Moody College’s Advisory Council.
