Reuters won the 2025 Toner Prize for national political reporting for comprehensive stories published as part of the news organization’s “Politics of Menace” special report during the presidential campaign.
NJ Advance Media earned the 2025 Toner Prize for local political reporting.
The winners of the annual Toner Prizes for Excellence in Political Reporting were announced March 6 by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The honors will be formally presented March 24 at the Toner Prizes Celebration in Washington, D.C.
Awarded annually by the Newhouse School, the Toner Prizes recognize the best political reporting of the past year. They are named after Robin Toner ’76, the first woman to hold the position of national political correspondent for The New York Times.
In addition to the winners, Politico took an honorable mention in the national political reporting category.
The judges were:
Winner: Reuters
Reporters: Peter Eisler, Ned Parker, Aram Roston and Joseph Tanfani
Entry: “The Politics of Menace”
“Breathtaking reporting … explains not just the actions, the impact, but also the grievances that empower.” _Schwartz
“Well-documented catalogue of threats, their impact, the growth of combative political forces and the ferocity of cultural clashes.” _Compton
Reporters: Jessie Blaeser, Kelsey Tamborrino, Benjamin Storrow, Zack Colman, David Ferris, Timothy Cama and Christine Mui
Entry: “Biden’s Billions”
“This is an important story that documents the success and failures of the Biden agenda.” _Dalglish
“Meticulous, dogged reporting inside every agency and delivered one well-written narrative after another. This is the kind of accountability and investigative work I like teaching my students.” _Bellantoni
“Politico looked almost step by step into an enormous plan.” _Treaster
Winner: NJ Advance Media
Reporters: Spencer Kent and Riley Yates
Entry: “Project Extreme”
“The storytelling and reporting here was riveting and courageous … The writing was so clear I couldn’t stop reading.” _Rodriguez
“An excellent examination of the different forms of extremism, the people affected by it and the threat it presents to democracy.” _Kirk
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 Syracuse University, 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.
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