Dao Prize Announces New $30K Award for DOGE Reporting, Welcomes 2025 Guest Judge Vince Coglianese

The Dao Prize, recognizing excellence in investigative journalism, announces a new Special Annual Award for DOGE Reporting on government waste.

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, July 16, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The National Journalism Center (NJC) is excited to announce, as part of its Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism, a new Special Annual Award for DOGE Reporting on government waste in 2025.

This new $30,000 award underscores the Dao Prize's commitment to recognizing impactful investigative journalism at all levels and across all platforms. NJC plans to select a new topic for the Special Annual Award each year based on prevailing news trends.

Judged by the National Journalism Center's independent Board of Governors and a guest judge, entries will be evaluated on five key criteria: investigative depth, public interest, fairness and accuracy, style, and impact.

This year, the National Journalism Center is pleased to welcome Vince Coglianese as a guest judge alongside the Board’s other esteemed panelists. Vince Coglianese is the host of the nationally syndicated “The VINCE Show” and editorial director of The Daily Caller.

Coglianese also took over “The Dan Bongino Show” podcast feed in 2025, relaunched as the “VINCE” podcast and produced by Silverloch Productions. As an editor since 2010, Coglianese reported on and edited thousands of national news stories, breaking news on stories like the Congressional Baseball shooter and Hunter Biden's laptop. As a broadcaster, he’s interviewed President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and countless members of Congress, among others.

In addition to the Special Annual Award, the grand prize for investigative journalism is $100,000, with two runners-up receiving $10,000 each for the general prize. Winners of the subcategories in local and multimedia reporting will also receive a $10,000 prize.

Open to all U.S. news outlets, including Substack pages, YouTube channels, and podcasts, the 2025 Dao Prize competition welcomes entries published between September 1, 2024, and August 18, 2025. Each outlet or journalist may submit unlimited stories or pre-defined series, with each entry eligible for the general prize and consideration in the local and multimedia categories.

The National Journalism Center is currently accepting submissions for the 2025 Dao Prize. The application deadline is August 18, 2025. Click here for full eligibility guidelines and to apply.

“This expansion is the latest step forward in the fight to support independent, aggressive journalism. For too long, the establishment media’s prizes have awarded fundamentally flawed reporting, conspiracy theories, and even outright fakes designed to elevate narrative over truth. The Dao Prize bucks that trend,” said Geoff Ingersoll, director of the National Journalism Center. “The people in independent media ranks are often marginalized, scoffed at, or outright attacked as they report out the most impactful stories of our era. NJC is honored to partner with Dao Feng and Angela in recognizing these fearless storytellers.”

About the Dao Prize:
The Dao Prize, funded by the Dao Feng and Angela Foundation, is a series of annual awards recognizing excellence in investigative journalism that advances the public interest. Launched in 2023, the prize is administered by the National Journalism Center, a project of Young America's Foundation. Learn more at DaoPrize.org.

Spencer Brown
National Journalism Center
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