From the Nominator

When we launched The Duke Daily in November 2019, we had no idea what our first year would bring. Our purpose in starting a daily e-newsletter was to inform, connect, and inspire the university community—all of which has become even more essential during the pandemic, as faculty, staff, and students are working and studying remotely yet yearn for connection with Duke. The Duke Daily goes out at 6 a.m. every weekday morning to nearly 50,000 individuals. All faculty, staff, and students receive it automatically, and numerous alumni, parents, Durham neighbors, and friends of the university have joined the subscriber list. 

Each issue features about five stories, with vivid headlines, arresting images, and crisp captions that are quick and enjoyable to read; readers who are interested in greater depth may click on links for the full story. Each issue ends with a quote from a member of the Duke community and an event that that people can join. We take pride in sharing stories of faculty advancing the frontiers of knowledge, experts engaging with the big questions of our day, and students serving their communities. We also routinely feature messages from university leadership and essential information (for example, regarding COVID-related operations on campus and voting in the 2020 election). As the editorial team, we strive to represent the diverse and vibrant Duke community, and to exemplify Duke's values every day, and do it all with a touch of Duke spirit and pride.

From the Judges

We singled out Duke Daily as an outstanding example of a basic concept in higher ed communications, executed at an incredibly high level of quality. The key to Duke Daily's impact is the quality of the content. From headline to footer, Duke's content is engaging, thoughtful, and a standout among the dozens of daily or bi-weekly newsletters entered in this category. The second factor we considered is the consistent, thoughtful curation for this newsletter. Content curation expresses the depth and breadth of one of America's great research universities in a smart, sophisticated presentation. As fellow communicators, we recognize how difficult these two factors are to sustain over time, and congratulate the team on the daily, routine nature of this newsletter's excellence.