The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma is now accepting entries for the 2013 Dart Awards.

Now in their 19th year, the Dart Awards for Excellence in Coverage of Trauma honor innovative, ethical and effective reporting on the impact of violence, crime, disaster and other traumatic events by North American news organizations.

The Dart Awards recognize media coverage that goes beyond simple narratives about victims' suffering to more nuanced reporting that grapples with the complexity of trauma and the impact of violence and tragedy on individuals, families and communities. The Dart Awards aim to reward and inspire innovative, effective, ethical and in-depth trauma reporting across media boundaries. All past Dart Award-winning pieces can be found here. To learn more about what makes a Dart Award winner, click here.

Judges will select up to two Dart Award winners, each carrying a $5000 cash prize. The Dart Award is a team prize, recognizing that extraordinary coverage of trauma requires commitment throughout a news organization.

The deadline for entries is January 25, 2013. The competition is open to news organizations in North America and U.S. territories. Click here for full submission guidelines, and click here to enter.

As the Steubenville sexual assault case takes the spotlight, the Dart Center's executive director Bruce Shapiro spoke with Dart Award winner Rachel Dissell, who has been reporting on the case since August, while Dart Award winner Kate Bramson looks back on another small-town rape case involving a high school athlete. For those reporting on this case, be sure to check out our tips on covering sexual violence, from preparation to writing the story.

On December 14, 2012, a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut left 20 children dead, and a nation in shock. In the aftermath the Dart Center has assembled a multitude of resources for journalists covering this tragedy, including lessons learned and reflections from reporters that covered Columbine and Virginia Tech, a poignant talk from investigative journalist James Grimaldi about reporting on guns and our reporting handbook, Covering Children and Trauma, by Ochberg Fellow Ruth Teichroeb. 

Applications are now open for the 2013 Dart Asia Pacific Fellowship in Bangkok, Thailand, a unique seminar program for veteran journalists, editors and freelancers based in Asia or the Pacific who want to deepen their knowledge of emotional trauma and improve coverage of violence, conflict and tragedy. The application deadline is February 18, 2013.