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The Washington Post won the 2026 Toner Prize for national political reporting for a series of stories that documented the impact of sweeping federal government policy changes.

The Chicago Tribune has won this year’s Toner Prize for local political reporting for “64 Days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz,” a series that examined how the Trump administration’s immigration policy unfolded in Chicago, including mass raids and public protests.

The winners of the annual were announced Feb. 27 by the  . Awarded annually by the Newhouse School, the Toner Prizes recognize the best political reporting of the past year. They are named for Robin Toner ’76, the first woman to hold the position of national political correspondent for The New York Times.

Toner Prizes Ceremony Set for March 23

The honors will be formally presented March 23 at the in Washington, D.C., where CBS justice correspondent Scott MacFarlane ’98 will serve as master of ceremonies. The ceremony will be preceded by a conversation with award-winning journalist, podcaster and author Kara Swisher and moderator Shelly Palmer about political reporting in the age of technology, artificial intelligence and social media. Palmer is the at the Newhouse School.

In addition to the winners, ProPublica took an honorable mention in the national political reporting category for a story that was co-published with The New Yorker.

The judges were:

• Christina Bellantoni, journalism professor at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, columnist and former editor-in-chief at Roll Call.
• Ann Compton, retired Emmy Award-winning reporter for ABC News and the first woman to cover the White House for network television.
• Lucy Dalglish, professor and dean emeritus at the Phillip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland; former executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; attorney and former reporter and editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
• Beverly Kirk, director of Washington programs and professor of practice of broadcast and digital journalism at the Newhouse School, with more than two decades of experience in journalism working at national and local outlets.
• Rick Rodriguez, former executive editor and senior vice president of The Sacramento Bee. He later joined the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University as professor of the Southwest Borderlands Initiative.
• Maralee Schwartz, former national political editor and reporter at The Washington Post. She held fellowships at the Harvard Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government, and the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard.
• Joseph B. Treaster, professor at the University of Miami School of Communication. A prize-winning reporter, he spent more than three decades as a reporter and foreign correspondent at The New York Times.

Toner Prize for Excellence in National Political Reporting

Winner: The Washington Post

Reporters: Hannah Natanson, William Wan and Meryl Kornfield

Entry: “The year Trump broke the federal government”
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Judges’ Comments

“This series was powerful, vast, richly detailed and just gutting.” (Bellantoni)

“Beautifully written…the visuals are powerful.” (Compton)

“The insight into the affected families was touching and horrifying.” (Dalglish)

“An emotion-provoking account of the human impacts of the Trump/DOGE federal job cuts.” (Rodriguez)

Honorable Mention: ProPublica and The New Yorker

Reporters: Andy Kroll, Lisa Riordan Seville, Katie Campbell and Mauricio Rodríguez Pons

Entry: “The Shadow President”

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Finalists

• Bloomberg News, “Trump Crypto Grift,” Zeke Faux, Anthony Cormier, David Kocieniewski, Muyao Shen, Max Abelson and Leonardo Nicoletti
• The New York Times, “Holding Trump Accountable,” Peter Baker, Charlie Savage, Eric Lipton, David Yaffe-Bellany, Bradley Hope, Tripp Mickle, Paul Mozur, Helene Cooper, Maggie Haberman and Eric Schmit
• NPR, “Trump’s revamped SAVE system,” Jude Joffe-Block, Miles Parks, Ben Swasey and Brett Neely
• ProPublica, “The Breakdown of Democracy in North Carolina,” Doug Bock Clark
• Reuters, “The Revenge of Donald Trump,” Ned Parker, Peter Eisler, Linda So, Mike Spector, Joseph Tanfani, M.B. Pell, Benjamin Lesser, Isaac Vargas, Nate Raymond and the Reuters team

Toner Prize for Excellence in Local Political Reporting

Winner: Chicago Tribune

Reporters: Andrew Carter, Gregory Royal Pratt, Laura Rodríguez Presa, Caroline Kubzansky and Jason Meisner

Entry: “64 Days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz”

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Judges’ Comments

“Riveting narratives documenting the human impacts of federal immigration raids on local communities. Stories like these take extensive research and effort to gain the trust of people in the super-charged environment. The writing was clear and compelling.” (Rodriguez)

“The depth of reporting in a response to breaking news that drew national attention is impressive.” (Bellantoni)

“Spectacular work, beautifully written and reported—made all the more powerful by the photography.” (Schwartz)

Finalists

• CalMatters, “Digital Democracy,” Ryan Sabalow
• Chicago Tribune, “Inside Illinois Senate President Don Harmon’s Campaign Contributions,” Ray Long, Rick Pearson, Addison Wright, Dan Petrella and Jeremy Gorner
• The Indianapolis Star, “God and politics,” Alexandria Burris, Kayla Dwyer and Hayleigh Colombo
• The Texas Tribune, “A billionaire megadonor’s political awakening,” Kate McGee and Carla Astudillo
• (Albany) Times Union, “New York’s Public Campaign Finance Program,” Emilie Munson

About the Toner Prizes

First presented in 2011, the Toner Prizes for Excellence in Political Reporting highlight and reinforce quality, fact-based political reporting—work that illuminates the electoral process, reveals the politics of policy and engages the public in democracy.

They are named after Robin Toner, who covered five presidential campaigns, scores of Congressional and gubernatorial races and most of the country’s major political figures during her nearly 25-year career at The New York Times. A 1976 graduate of ������, Toner earned a bachelor’s degree as a dual major in journalism from the Newhouse School and political science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Toner died in 2008, leaving a husband and two young children. To honor her legacy, family and friends established the Toner Program in Political Reporting at the Newhouse School.