2025 Lynch Award for Regional Reporting on Congress
ANNUAL CALL FOR ENTRIES
Eligibility: Stories and reports published November 11, 2024 through November 9, 2025
Deadline for entering: Friday, November 14, 2025 at 5:00 p.m.
The Lynch Award is administered by the Washington Press Club Foundation and the Congressional Standing Committee of Correspondents. It goes annually to a Washington-based daily reporter to recognize excellence in coverage of Congress from a regional perspective. Both congressional and regional elements are required. Contest is open to any reporter for a daily newspaper, online publication, radio or television broadcaster or news service who qualifies for membership in the Congressional press galleries.
The Award: $2,000 and recognition at the Washington Press Club Foundation’s annual dinner. Judging Standards: “Regional reporting” is work that sheds light on the inner workings of Congress – especially the local delegation – and shows how actions on Capitol Hill affect the local community. Judges will look for thorough and incisive regional coverage of Congress. They will look for clear, engaging reporting and an explanation of difficult and complex subjects to a hometown audience. Coverage of House and Senate election campaigns are eligible.
How to Enter: Entries must be submitted using the entry form by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 14, 2025. There are no exceptions. Late entries will not be considered. Link to enter: https://forms.gle/JWtQVdE75s6Ldg9Y8
We would prefer if your publication could have the paywall removed for the stories submitted, otherwise please provide the passcode for our judges to access. An entry will consist of no more than four stories and/or reports and should be submitted using the entry form. Entries must show date of publication and evidence of publication in a daily-news product. Stories and/or reports must be single-byline. Entries with more than one byline will not be considered. A note explaining the impact of the entry or any special circumstances of the reporting is allowed but not required. Anyone having difficulties submitting their entry can contact Samantha Hulley.
CONTACT: Samantha Hulley Samantha_Hulley@saa.senate.gov
*Please note, this is a pilot program of new eligibility rules and a new submission format*
David Lynch Award For Excellence in Congressional Reporting
Congratulations to Melissa Nann Burke of The Detroit News, 2024 David Lynch Award winner for Regional Reporters
Melissa’s submission stood out for its depth and balance. Her story, “Detroit congressman Shri Thanedar spending big on TV ads, billboards using taxpayer funds” was especially impressive. She demystified the little-known practice of "franking" revealing how taxpayer dollars fund congressional communications – focusing on one wealthy lawmaker’s particularly liberal use.
Click here to read Burke's entry
Honorable Mentions go to Matthew Choir with the Texas Tribune and Mark Weiner with the Syracuse Post-Standard. Choi’s well-written stories pulled back the curtain on the Texas delegation, giving readers a better sense of the personalities who drive policy.
Weiner’s excellent entry revealed how a New York congressman failed to perform basic functions of his job, blending voices from the lawmaker’ New York district
and the Capitol to describe an absent leader.
The David Lynch Memorial Reporting Award is given annually to a Washington-based daily print reporter. It recognizes excellence in coverage of Congress from a regional perspective. Both the congressional link and the regional element are required.
David Lynch covered Washington -- with an emphasis on Congress -- for the Buffalo News and for the Griffin-Larrabee Bureau, which served daily newspapers in New England, Alaska and South Carolina. Later, he ran a one-man bureau, with daily newspaper clients in Iowa and Nebraska.
He was a longtime member of the House and Senate Press Galleries. He served on the Standing Committee of Correspondents, which is elected by reporters to administer the Galleries. Gallery members and David's widow, Debra Strauss Lynch, created the award after David's death in 1998.
Donations from David's colleagues in journalism, his personal friends and his family are the source of funding for the award. The award trust fund and the award ceremony are managed by the Washington Press Club Foundation. The Standing Committee of Correspondents manages the judging.