The Dao Prize
The Dao Prize, funded by the Dao Feng and Angela Foundation and launched in conjunction with Young America’s Foundation’s National Journalism Center (NJC), is an annual award founded to recognize excellence in investigative journalism. Dao Prize-winning journalism stands out for accuracy and courage. The Dao Prize will award courageous journalists and give them the recognition often ignored by other organizations and media outlets.
How It Works 
In 2023, the Dao Feng and Angela Foundation (DAF) partnered with YAF’s prestigious National Journalism Center to honor truth-seeking journalists. As trust in media hovers near record lows, DAF and NJC believe it is essential to celebrate reporters advancing the public interest through robust investigative work. Too often, the media establishment celebrates work that protects power rather than challenging it. The Dao Prize will honor truth above all else.
The Dao Feng and Angela Foundation started their charitable foundation with a passion for freedom. As immigrants from China, Dao Feng He and Angela He know firsthand the importance of a free press and hope to revive the American media’s spirit of curiosity, skepticism and vigor. Mr. He observed that in the United States, investigative journalists face increasing constraints around political correctness, and because of this, are discouraged from tackling certain investigations and reporting the truth. This caused him to think of a way in which a group could come alongside his foundation to award the bravery so needed in today’s journalism landscape.
Mr. He is passionate about this prize, and firmly believes that for America to preserve her founding principles and hold elected officials accountable, courageous journalists are essential.
The third annual Dao Prize will be awarded on Nov. 19, 2025 in Washington, D.C. It is available to all American media outlets. Journalists and publications are welcome to submit as many applications for consideration as they like. The full rules for entry are located on the application.
Submissions must have been published between Sept. 1, 2024, through Aug. 18, 2025. Applications are limited to one story or pre-defined series, but there is no limit to the number of applications an outlet or journalist can submit. All U.S.-based news publications and independent reporters are welcome to participate. This includes Substack pages, YouTube channels, and podcasts.
*Entrant Obligations:
If selected as a finalist, finalists must attend the annual dinner with an optional plus one. In the event a finalist is unable to attend the dinner, we ask they send a representative from their newsroom in their place. If neither the finalist nor a representative can attend, we will unfortunately need to remove them from consideration for a prize.
This year’s awards dinner gala will be held in Washington, D.C. on November 19.
Outlets and reporters are strongly encouraged to promote their status as finalists for NJC’s Dao Prize.
Every newsroom that applies may request up to ten free seats at the November 19 award ceremony in Washington, D.C. The National Journalism Center will allocate these seats on a first-come, first-served basis.
The deadline for submissions is August 18 for the Dao Prize.
Click here to download an application or upload your completed form.
Applications are evaluated by the National Journalism Center’s independent Board of Governors along with a guest judge. After deliberation, the board’s selection committee chooses a group of finalists. Then, each board member casts votes by secret ballot for the story most worthy of the annual Dao Prize from the list of finalists.
Submissions will be evaluated on five main criteria: investigative depth, public interest, fairness and accuracy, style, and impact. Judges will grade submissions on a 10-point scale in each category and tally the average for a final score. The judge must cast their vote for the submission with the highest score. Two runners-up to be awarded $10,000 each will be determined based on the judge’s second and third-place stories. In the case of a tie, the board will enter another round of voting.
Judges cannot vote for a story from their own news outlet or for a story they worked on personally. NJC’s board operates on an advisory basis, meaning members serve in their capacity as governors without financial compensation from Young America’s Foundation. Ballots are counted and preserved by a Foundation executive team representative. NJC’s independent board will exercise sole control over the selection of the Dao Prize, runners-up, and special category winners.
The annual grand prize winner will receive a $100,000 prize, divided among team members according to the terms they agreed to when submitting their application.
Two submissions will win $10,000 each as runners-up in the grand prize category.
Remaining applications will enter consideration for awards in one of two special categories: a $10,000 award for Best Local Journalism and a $10,000 award for Best Multimedia Journalism, which includes podcasts, video, and radio.
The National Journalism Center is proud to announce a new special prize, whose topic will change annually, depending on news trends and the wider media landscape.
This year’s prize will be for the best DOGE reporting.
That is reporting done on either the Department of Government Efficiency or on wasteful government spending. The award for this prize is $30,000.
The winner of the Dao Grand Prize will not be eligible for the Special Dao Prize. Once the Grand Prize is selected, judges will automatically consider all qualifying applications for the Special Dao Prize on DOGE reporting.
