SPJ/JEA High School Essay Contest

Upload by Feb. 22, 2026, 11:59 p.m. CST/9:59 p.m. PST

2026 topic:

Why is misinformation or disinformation (fake news) so easily spread, and how can journalists aim to counter it?

Submission deadline:

All entries must be submitted through the online portal by Feb. 22, 2026, 11:59 p.m. CST/9:59 p.m. PST.

SUBMIT YOUR ENTRY HERE

About the contest:

Through this essay contest, the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation and the Journalism Education Association aim to increase high school students’ knowledge and understanding of the importance of media literacy and independent, ethical media. The top three winners of this contest receive scholarship awards provided by SPJ.

Who is eligible?

Students enrolled in grades 9-12 in U.S. public, private and home schools within the United States. We are not currently accepting submissions from international students. Students must submit original work.

Format?

The essay should be 300-500 words. Entries should be typed and double-spaced. If you reference any external sources, directly or indirectly, a bibliography is required. Please submit as a Word (.docx) file.

Entering

Each submission to the essay contest must be accompanied by a $10 entry fee.

Award recognition

First place: $1,000 scholarship

Second place: $500 scholarship

Third place: $300 scholarship

Scholarships are funded by the Society of Professional Journalists Foundation.

Winners will be notified via email, and the names of winners will be announced in May 2026. Winning essays also will be posted on JEA.org and SPJ.org.

Artificial intelligence policy

The purpose of this essay contest is to celebrate the hard work and originality of high school students, especially those who are interested in supporting our goal of increasing national awareness around the importance of media literacy and independent, ethical media.

We know that artificial intelligence tools can provide useful writing support in many ways. We also know that teachers, family and friends may have their own ideas to contribute to the essay topic. However, for the purpose of this particular essay contest, we are interested in reading the original ideas, thoughts and words of high school students themselves.

Because of this, please note that contest rules now explicitly state that each essay entry must be entirely original and written directly by the student contestant, with minimal guidance from others, including teachers, parents and artificial intelligence tools. Any essays that are found to be plagiarized or written by AI, in whole or in part, will be disqualified and removed from consideration.

Official rules

Section I – General Contest Rules

  1. All entries must adhere to the official contest topic.
  2. Essays must be typed, double-spaced and written in English.
  3. Contestants must enter through JEA’s online Submittable portal and submit the essay file as a Word (.docx) document.
  4. Contestants must compose an original essay with minimal guidance from others, including any artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT. Any essays that are found to be plagiarized or written by AI, in whole or in part, will be disqualified and removed from consideration with no notice and no refund of the entry fee.
  5. Essays must contain at least 300 words but no more than 500 words. Every word of the essay is counted. This does not include the title, bibliography or footnotes.
  6. If you reference any external sources, directly or indirectly, a bibliography and/or footnotes are required.
  7. Any quotations or copyrighted material used in the essay must be identified properly. Failure to identify non-original material will result in disqualification.
  8. The entry fee for this contest is $10 per essay. Entries will only be considered once the entry fee is submitted and correctly processed. Any issues with payment past the submission deadline will remove the entry from consideration.
  9. Due to the volume of entries received, only national winners will be contacted with the results.
  10. The Journalism Education Association and Society of Professional Journalists will have the right to edit, publish or otherwise duplicate any essay entered into the contest without payment to the author.
  11. Any protest in the conduct of the contest must be made immediately and no later than 30 calendar days after the winners are published. The JEA executive director will decide all protests in conformity with the contest rules. The decision of the executive director is final, and no higher appeals will be recognized.

Section II – Qualifications for Contestants

  1. The contest is open to all students in grades 9-12 in public, private and home schools within the United States. We are not currently accepting submissions from international students. 
  2. Contestants may submit only one essay entry during any given contest year.
  3. No individual having previously won a national SPJ/JEA essay contest will be eligible to compete at any level of the competition again.

Section IV – Judging and Timing

  1. Judging will be completed by a panel of qualified judges.
  2. Judges will not discuss or compare essays being judged until all essays have been scored.
  3. Only judges can assign a penalty or award points.

Section V – Scoring of Contest

Scoring procedures at all levels of the contest will be identical and follow this rubric:

  1. Topic Analysis (Logical, well-informed, evidence-based analysis of topic): 30 points
  2. Originality & Voice (Fresh insight, nuanced perspective, developed ideas): 25 points
  3. Use of Language (Strong vocabulary, style, phrasing, clarity, tone, word choice): 20 points
  4. Structure (Clear formatting, organization, flow, continuity): 15 points
  5. Mechanics (Excellent grammar, punctuation, spelling): 10 points

Before judges score an entry using this rubric, they will first verify that the entry adheres to all the contest rules. Any entries that fail to adhere will be disqualified and removed from consideration, with no notice or refund of the entry fee. For this reason, contestants are encouraged to carefully review and follow the rules as listed here.

Students are encouraged to review the essays of past winners to get an idea of what judges are looking for.