The Deadline Club’s journalism competition, one of the most prestigious in New York, stretches back to 1957, when the club introduced the James Wright Brown Award honoring outstanding journalistic achievement in the metropolitan area. That first prize was presented to The New York Journal-American for the paper’s role in the capture of George Metesky, the “Mad Bomber.” In 1968, legendary cartoonist Rube Goldberg sculpted his “dead line” for the annual competition that today recognizes the best in journalism across 36 categories.

The annual awards receive hundreds of entries comprising all media types. Nearly 100 volunteer judges—all experienced journalists—participated in examining each entry for fairness, balance and accuracy; thoroughness, timeliness and clarity; news language and technical skills exhibited; enterprise, resourcefulness and obstacles overcome; effort involved in preparation; and the story’s interest and importance to the public.

While only one winner in each category will take home the coveted “dead line” statuette—affectionately dubbed the Rube after its creator, the iconic Pulitzer Prize–winning cartoonist and sculptor Rube Goldberg—simply being named a finalist in this contest says a great deal about the quality of each selected work.