SEJ Awards Judges Job Description

 

 

Each year, SEJ’s Awards for Reporting on the Environment draws hundreds of entries from across the U.S. and around the world. Judges play a key role in upholding the integrity of the awards by helping to identify the strongest submissions in each category.

All individuals appointed as judges must either be news professionals or journalism educators; or individuals with deep editorial expertise and experience, as determined by the SEJ Awards Committee. SEJ membership is not required. All judges must review and comply with the SEJ Awards Rules and act with fairness, objectivity and integrity.

What Judges Do

• Each category is assigned a panel of three judges, including a chair, who independently review entries using Submittable, SEJ’s awards submissions platform.
• Once judges have a top 10-15, the chair of the panel will coordinate discussions for final decision-making. 
• The chairperson of each judging panel is responsible for preparing or collecting from fellow panel judges, brief statements for each place-winning entry. 

Timeline

• Judging begins November 2025 and continues through early February.
• Judges should expect to review entries efficiently over four to six weeks.

Who Should Apply

We welcome current or former:

• Journalists (freelance, staff, or retired)
• Journalism educators and newsroom trainers
• Professionals with equivalent editorial expertise

SEJ membership is not required. Judges must agree to review in accordance with SEJ’s Awards Rules and judging criteria.

Ideal judge qualities and skills include:

• Sound editorial judgment and deep knowledge of journalistic standards
• Fairness and objectivity across topics, platforms, and publication sizes
• Familiarity with environmental issues and journalism
• Comfort using Submittable (training and guidance can be provided)

Commitment to Diversity

SEJ encourages judges to apply their editorial judgment to:

• Underrepresented and under-reported communities and geographies
• Undercovered environmental topics
• Geographic, stylistic, and newsroom-size diversity

Rules & Expectations

• Judges may enter the SEJ Awards, but not in a category they’re judging.
• Each judge must review all entries in their assigned category.
• Recusal is required for any entry where there’s a conflict of interest.
• Entries may exceed the story cap if same-day sidebars are grouped. Supplemental materials, such as entry summary cover letters, are for context only and should not be considered.
• All entries must include at least one piece published or aired between May 1, 2024, and July 31, 2025.
• Large/small newsroom is based on the original publisher or broadcaster.

How Judging Works Via Submittable

• SEJ will assign judges to their category in Submittable.
• Each entry has a submission panel (left) and a review panel (right).
• To begin, click “My Review,” then your name, and use the Review tab if needed.
• Drafts can be saved and edited until final submission.
• While panels may name up to six entries per category — first, second and third place winners, and three honorable mentions — fewer awards may be given. Judges are expected to uphold a high bar of excellence and may withhold awards if no entries meet the standard. Ties are not permitted.

Please complete the contact form with any questions and refer fellow members or colleagues to the interest form here.

Individuals interested in volunteering as a judge should complete the interest form by September 2, 2025.