Since the U.S. Armed Forces began during the American Revolutionary War, service members have played a vital role in the country’s history. Our nation’s active-duty military is an all-volunteer force with less than 1% of people raising their hands to serve our country. Today, there are more than 18 million living veterans in the U.S.
Wounded Warrior Project® (WWP) and the National Press Foundation established Wounded Warrior Project® Award for Excellence in Coverage of Veterans to elevate the discourse around veterans’ affairs in the media. By recognizing outstanding journalism, the awards seek to inspire high-quality reporting that fosters a deeper understanding of veterans’ needs, struggles, and triumphs.
The award carries two $5,000 prizes, one for work appearing in a large media outlet and one for work appearing in a small or regional outlet (averaging fewer than 15 million monthly visits to its website). At least one winner of each prize will receive a trip to Washington, D.C., to accept the award at the National Press Foundation’s annual journalism awards dinner.
The award is open to U.S.-based journalists working in any media format and platform, from podcasts to television packages to print/digital stories. Entries could range from well-crafted features to investigative journalism regarding veterans issues, including health care, caregiving, financial security, injuries sustained during service, and more.
2025 WWP Winners
Freelance journalists Patricia Kime and Ilie Mitaru have won the National Press Foundation’s 2025 Wounded Warrior Project® Award for Coverage of Veterans in the small and large news organization categories, respectively.
Kime won for her work appearing in Military.com exposing the difficulty veterans encountered when attempting to access mental health services through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Mitaru won for his feature and photo essay in BBC Future on an experimental program pairing incarcerated combat veterans with horse therapy inside a Texas jail.
Both winners accepted the award at NPF’s Annual Awards Dinner on March 12, 2026.
Previous Winners
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Long Lead won the National Press Foundation’s inaugural Wounded Warrior Project® Award for Excellence in Coverage of Veterans in the large and small news organization categories, respectively.
John Diedrich, a journalist from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, won the award for his coverage about firearm suicide, particularly among veterans. His work profiled veterans and gun owners while focusing on solutions, both individual and systemic to raise awareness of the issue.
Long Lead won for its coverage of the homeless crisis among disabled veterans in Los Angeles. The multimedia feature, “Home of the Brave,” tells the story of veterans who were evicted from land in L.A. established after the Civil War to house disabled veterans.
