Best News Feature (BNF)

The Best News Feature (BNF) award honors exceptional news features reported worldwide on any platform.

Entries to this category should be fact-based stories — whether local, national, or international — created to uncover and interpret a current event or pressing issues, often on a tight deadline. Enterprising work that brings underreported stories to light is encouraged. News Features may also include journalistic formats beyond traditional documentary, including the two-way, essay, and other forms used in radio and podcasts.

For Entrants: the 2023-24 Call for Entries is launching soon!

The week of December 4, 2023, we'll open up our 2023-24 Call for Entries, a unique dialogue between Third Coast and the diverse communities of people making this work around the world.

Everyone, everywhere, is invited to enter audio works across formats & in any language. Our goal is to create a different kind of backbone for the industry – inciting dialogue, experimentation, and new critical new opportunities in audio. This year, that will include offerings like: more Award-Winners & Finalists than ever before, an expanded Feedback Initiative, new discounts for self-funded entrants, and more new programs from Third Coast spotlighting outstanding makers from the field.

We'll be updating all Competition-related pages for the 2023-24 Call for Entries launch, including this one. For now, feel free to read through the Best News Feature category page from the 2022-23 Competition Cycle. Make sure to also check out the Third Coast/RHDF Competition Showcase, featuring our 2022-23 Winners, Finalists & Judges.)

Background

The Best News Feature (BNF) category is one of the original categories in the Third Coast/RHDF Competition. There is one Award-Winner in this category, honored with a cash prize, unique physical award, and recognition around the world, including a public showcase of comments by the judges. We now offer a list of Third Coast Finalists in this category, announced alongside Award-winners. Learn more about all of our Competition Offerings, and share your input to help us expand them in the future.

Please note: The 2022-23 Call for Entries closed on March 10, 2023.

Eligibility Information

Length: 0-20 minutes
Publication: Must have been published between September 1, 2020 and March 10, 2023
Format: One single audio file. All advertisements or sponsorship segments must be removed from the audio file — this includes previews for upcoming episodes of this or other programs.
Language: There are no language requirements for this category. If you are entering work in a non-English language, you must provide a translated transcript.

2022-23 Entry Rates

As always, our entry rates were most affordable before our Early Deadline. If you’re interested in learning more about rates for the 2022-23 Third Coast/RHDF Competition, check out our complete breakdown of sliding scale rates across all categories.

Note: As a Pilot Offering this year, we honored our Early Deadline rates through the Final Deadline for all non-English Language entries in any category.

Each year, our rates are shaped by our Collective Pricing philosophy, which distributes cost according to entrants’ access to resources.

2022-23 Entry Checklist

• Audio file (mp3 preferred, WAV also accepted) with all ads removed.
• Total length of the entry (Minutes:Seconds)
• Link to a published version of the story
• Full credits (host, producer, sound designer, editor, etc.)
• Descriptive summary of your entry (150 words or fewer preferred)
• Transcript (optional for English-language entries, required for non-English)

Best News Feature FAQ

How do I know if my entry is a News Feature?

• Best News Feature entries are 0-20-minute-long pieces that should be driven by an event or a news-peg, however big or small, and proceed from there. These stories are often locally-focused, community driven, and made on a short deadline. It's okay if, by the time of submission, BNF content feels dated from a news perspective; we’re interested in BNF entries capturing a moment in time. BNF entries are eligible to additionally be considered for Best New Artist and Impact. If your piece falls outside of this description, it probably better qualifies as BD or BDS. And if we think you’ve mis-categorized your piece, and we think it would be more competitive in a different category, we’ll move it on our end.

Do I need to be a journalist, or work for a news organization to enter this category?

• No. Eligibility for this category is determined by the work itself, not by the maker’s credentials.

Previous Winners

Interested in hearing pieces that have won this category in prior years? Click on the play button button next to some of our most recent winners below.