About the Golden Quills
Mark your calendar: May 18, 2026
Mark your calendar: May 18, 2026
We are proud to receive more than 1,100 entries each year from across Western Pennsylvania, as well as parts of Ohio and West Virginia.
Each year, the Golden Quills contest honors dozens of journalists and news outlets in our region for their expert storytelling and accountability work.
Maggie Jones Patterson, a journalism professor at Duquesne University, was honored with the Service to Journalism Award at the 2025 Golden Quill Awards.
Deadline for 2026 Golden Quill entries: Feb. 2
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Deadline for 2026 Golden Quill entries: Feb. 2 📰
Press Club of Western Pennsylvania Now Accepting
Entries for 2026 Golden Quill Awards
PITTSBURGH, Jan. 7, 2026 – The Press Club of Western Pennsylvania is calling for submissions to its 62nd Golden Quill Awards, the annual competition that recognizes professional and student excellence in written, broadcast, photographic, video and digital journalism in Western Pennsylvania and neighboring counties in Eastern Ohio and Northern West Virginia.
The entry deadline for the Golden Quill Awards is 11:59 p.m. Monday, Feb. 2. All entries must have been published or broadcast between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2025, to be eligible.
Entries to the Golden Quill Awards will be submitted using a web-based program at www.betterbnc.com, and payment will be online only. Rules and instructions for submission for the awards — open to all news professionals in 29 counties of Western Pennsylvania; Ohio counties of Belmont, Columbiana, Jefferson, Mahoning and Trumbull; and West Virginia counties of Brooke, Cabell, Hancock, Marion, Marshall, Monongalia, Ohio, Preston and Wetzel — can be downloaded here.
Golden Quill finalists will be notified once judging, which is done outside the region by journalism and communications professionals, is complete. Golden Quill winners will be announced during a dinner and awards ceremony on Monday, May 18, at Rivers Casino on Pittsburgh’s North Shore.