WASHINGTON, D.C. — Jennifer Huberdeau, The Eagle's features editor, has received a 2026 Excellence in Journalism Award from NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists for her arts criticism.

Huberdeau won the organization's Excellence in Critique Writing Award for her story, "Steve Locke's 'the fire next time' confronts violence against Black and queer communities," which examined the artist's exhibition and its exploration of race, violence and LGBTQ+ identity.

Her award-winning critique explored Steve Locke's exhibition, examining how the artist uses sculpture, installation and historical references to confront violence against Black and queer communities.

The honor is part of NLGJA's annual Excellence in Journalism Awards, which recognize outstanding LGBTQ-related journalism produced in 2025. Recipients will be honored during the NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists National Convention, Sept. 10-13 in San Francisco, with awards presented throughout the convention.

Huberdeau was among journalists from news organizations across North America recognized for work in print, digital, broadcast and multimedia journalism.

The organization also named Lydia Polgreen, of the New York Times, its Journalist of the Year and will present the Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for LGBTQ+ Journalist of the Year to Evan Urquhart. The Al Neuharth Award for Innovation in Investigative Journalism went to Rachel Ward, Mark Kelley, Grant LaFleche, Matthew Pierce, Ryan Ferguson and Jonathan Castell of CBC News for "The Fifth Estate: The Shadow War on Libraries."

Established in 1993, the NLGJA Excellence in Journalism Awards recognize excellence in journalism on issues related to the LGBTQ+ community while promoting fair and accurate coverage and supporting LGBTQ+ journalists through professional development and mentorship.

"DYLANN (profile), 2017" part of Steve Locke's "the fire next time" at Mass MoCA. © 2024 Steve Locke / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Huberdeau also was recently awarded first place in the Society for Features Journalism’s 2026 Excellence-in-Features competition for Arts & Culture Criticism Portfolio. She received the award in Division 1, which recognizes newspapers with 50 or fewer full-time editorial employees, as well as magazines and web-only publications with a local, city or metro-area focus.