2026 Student Innovation Competition open for entries
- Reynolds Journalism Institute
Applications are open for the Reynolds Journalism Institute’s (RJI) 2026 Student Innovation Competition, in which teams of college students all over the country will compete for a grand prize of $10,000 with projects harnessing the growing importance of non-journalist influencers in news consumption. The fragmentation of news audiences and changing policies toward news and fact-checking on social media platforms demand that community news organizations find new ways to engage audiences. With that in mind, this year’s teams will be tasked with developing a tool, strategy or other project that uses a collaborative relationship between trusted influencers and a local newsroom to boost engagement. The competition is open to all college students attending school in the U.S., and the deadline to apply is Oct. 17. “The industry must adapt to reach audiences where they are, and students have fresh, innovative ideas that could spark the next great leap forward,” said Randy Picht, executive director of RJI. “The winning project will take advantage of the strengths of journalism and community influencers alike to serve the public with local news.” Consistent with RJI’s emphasis on practical solutions, the finalists will test and implement their projects in real local-to-them newsrooms before preparing a final presentation for a panel of independent judges. In addition to the $10,000 grand prize, second and third place finishers will receive $2,500 and $1,000, respectively. Once selected in October, finalists will receive $500 in reimbursement from RJI to assist with the testing and implementation phase. Winners will be announced next spring. Past winners have created an interactive text-messaging service , a data analysis tool for long-term story tracking and a process for serving local Spanish-speaking audiences with accessible content, among many other projects. “I’m excited to see what student teams come up with and get to work with them in the months ahead as the finalists implement their ideas,” said Kat Duncan director of innovation at RJI. “I’m sure we’ll see a ton of innovative ideas that will help newsrooms explore collaborations in their community through TikTok, YouTube and in person events.” For more information or to apply, click here. Duncan will also host a Q&A webinar on Sept. 15 for those interested in learning more. Cite this article … Organizer: Reynolds Journalism Institute — https://rjionline.org/news/2026-student-innovation-competition-open-for-entries/ Apply: https://rji.submittable.com/submit