See this year's winners, their advocacy impact, and how to nominate an ASHA Media Champion.
On August 11, 2026, ASHA named the 2026 Media Champion Award recipients, recognizing media outlets, ASHA members, and partners for coverage that moved communication and swallowing disorders into public view.
The honorees cross formats: AP's telehealth reporting, Fox 5 DC's stuttering exhibit coverage, Telemundo 49 Tampa's inclusive Halloween segment, and individual clinicians Becky Khayum and Michelle Hu for dementia and pediatric hearing outreach.
That breadth signals a shift. Media advocacy is no longer a side task for SLPs; it is becoming a clinical competency, because a well-timed public story can change whether a patient gets referred, funded, or understood.
Who can actually receive an ASHA Media Champion Award, and what kind of work gets noticed? The short answer is wider than media badges or bylines. ASHA formally recognizes media outlets, ASHA members, and others whose coverage and outreach help the public understand communication disorders and the professionals who treat them.1
The Media Champion Award is not a single-story prize. It honors sustained or standout work across reporting, broadcast segments, public outreach campaigns, and partnerships that raise awareness of communication and swallowing disorders. ASHA frames this recognition around public education: when accurate, human-centered stories reach audiences, they make it easier for people to seek care and understand what audiologists and SLPs do across the SLP scope of practice. ASHA President Linda I. Rosa-Lugo put it this way: "Each awardee in their own way has helped raise awareness and educate the public about communication and swallowing disorders as well as about the availability of professionals who can help address them and make significant positive differences in quality of life."2
Eligibility is deliberately broad. The three recognized groups are: - Media outlets, including national wire services, local television, and digital health platforms - ASHA members, such as speech-language pathologists and audiologists who serve as expert sources or write public-facing commentary - Other partners, including organizations that collaborate with ASHA on awareness or education initiatives
That "others" category allows the award to reflect nontraditional media work, from community partnerships to texting programs.
ASHA's published materials emphasize the significance of contributions in coverage and programming related to communication disorders, but the association has not released a detailed scoring rubric or a full explanation of how recipients are evaluated.3 Recipients are selected through an internal process rather than a public nomination vote.4 This means the annual list functions less like a ranked competition and more like a curated set of examples ASHA wants the field and the public to see.
The 2026 ASHA Media Champion Award recipients span national wire coverage, local television, nonprofit partnerships, and individual ASHA members. The following table summarizes each honoree's recognized contribution and the advocacy theme it represents.
| Recipient / Outlet | Coverage or Contribution | Primary Advocacy Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Associated Press (AP) | October 30, 2025 article on telehealth program disruptions during a government shutdown, including ASHA-member SLP perspectives | Telehealth access and policy impact |
| Fox 5 DC | November 13, 2025 evening and primetime TV coverage of a new interactive stuttering exhibit at Planet Word Museum | Stuttering awareness and public education |
| Telemundo 49 Tampa | October 28, 2025 segment on inclusive Halloween celebrations for children with speech and language disorders, featuring SLP Meg Morgan | Inclusive practices for childhood communication disorders |
| Coffee With America | June 1, 2026 segment on ASHA's national poll, interviewing ASHA President Linda I. Rosa-Lugo and audiologist Janice R. Trent | Public awareness of hearing and communication health |
| KevinMD | May 28, 2026 opinion piece by Chris Ross, PhD, CCC-SLP titled "Communication access is a patient safety issue." | Communication access and patient safety |
| Hilarity for Charity | Partnered with ASHA on three events in 2025 and 2026 about dementia care and communication | Dementia care and communication |
| Lantern | EAT texting program providing feeding guidance to families with young children, a collaboration with ASHA and third texting program after HEAR and TALK | Pediatric feeding guidance and digital health outreach |
| Becky Khayum, MS, CCC-SLP | Participation in AP and AARP stories about telehealth and speech therapy for dementia and Parkinson's disease | Telehealth and speech therapy for neurodegenerative conditions |
| Michelle Hu, AuD, CCC-A | Contributions to summer guidance for children who are deaf and hard of hearing | Summer guidance for children who are deaf or hard of hearing |
On October 30, 2025, the Associated Press published "Patients go without needed treatment after the government shutdown disrupts a telehealth program" by Ali Swenson and Obed Lamy.1 The article included perspectives from ASHA-member speech-language pathologists and showed how a disrupted telehealth program affected patients who rely on telepractice speech therapy and swallowing care. This national story helped make the connection between policy decisions and daily clinical access concrete for a broad readership.
ASHA's recognition of the AP piece highlights the value of placing SLP voices in stories that reach general audiences, not just professional circles. The article's focus on real patient consequences made the coverage resonate beyond a clinical niche.
Fox 5 DC received recognition for its November 13, 2025 evening and primetime coverage of the launch of a new interactive exhibit about fluency disorders at the Planet Word Museum in Washington, D.C. That same fall, Telemundo 49 Tampa aired an October 28, 2025 segment on inclusive Halloween celebrations for children with speech and language disorders, featuring SLP Meg Morgan, MS, CCC-SLP, BSC-CL. Both segments translated clinical topics into familiar community settings, helping families see communication disorders in everyday contexts.
Coffee With America was recognized for its June 1, 2026 segment on ASHA's national poll, with interviews featuring ASHA President Linda I. Rosa-Lugo and audiologist Janice R. Trent, AuD. On May 28, 2026, KevinMD published an opinion piece by Chris Ross, PhD, CCC-SLP, titled "Communication access is a patient safety issue." Hilarity for Charity partnered with ASHA on three events in 2025 and 2026 about dementia care and communication. Lantern's EAT texting program provided feeding guidance to families with young children, a collaboration with ASHA that followed the HEAR and TALK programs.
Becky Khayum, MS, CCC-SLP, was recognized for participating in AP and AARP stories about telehealth and speech therapy for dementia and Parkinson's disease. Michelle Hu, AuD, CCC-A, was recognized for contributions to summer guidance for children who are deaf and hard of hearing.
ASHA's August 11, 2026 announcement includes links to the original pieces for readers who want to view them.2
Speech-language pathology advocacy is moving from conference panels to community newsrooms, and the 2026 ASHA Media Champion Awards reveal which clinical topics are actually breaking through.
On August 11, 2026, ASHA recognized recipients across six advocacy areas that mirror current clinical priorities. Grouping the wins this way makes the award cycle more useful for SLPs and students who want to do the same kind of outreach.
The Telemundo 49 Tampa recognition matters beyond the Halloween story. As a Spanish-language local station serving Tampa's Hispanic community1, it reached caregivers who may not regularly see English-language health coverage. When families hear about speech and language disorders in the language they use at home, early signs feel less abstract and local services feel more accessible. That visibility can reduce language access barriers and normalize inclusive celebrations in culturally specific contexts. For bilingual speech pathologists working in multilingual communities, Spanish-language and other non-English outlets are essential partners, not add-ons.
ASHA President Linda I. Rosa-Lugo, EdD, CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow, said each awardee "helped raise awareness and educate the public about communication and swallowing disorders as well as about the availability of professionals who can help address them and make significant positive differences in quality of life." That quality-of-life framing is the throughline. If your caseload or research touches telehealth access, stuttering, inclusive community events, dementia care, patient safety, or pediatric feeding, there is a local media angle. Pitch the issue, not just your program. Include bilingual angles when your community speaks more than one language. The 2026 winners show that a well-told story with a clear patient outcome can travel from a local station to a national audience.
The ASHA Media Champion Award has evolved from a press-recognition program into a broader advocacy honor that no longer fits neatly into a single media-outlet category.
In 2023, ASHA recognized 16 total recipients.1 Nine were media outlets, including the Associated Press, BuzzFeed News, CNET, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, and WTOP.2 Seven ASHA member participants were honored through the Real Stories initiative.1 The mix spanned wire services, digital news, local newspapers, broadcast programs, and general-interest publications. The topics leaned toward broad hearing and speech awareness: stroke communication coverage, cochlear implants, over-the-counter hearing aids, pediatric hearing aids, speech delay, bilingualism, and fetal hearing.
By 2024, the total dropped to seven recipients: five outlets and two individual honorees.3 NPR, Today.com, and American Urban Radio Networks were among the named outlets.3 Individual honorees Marsha Pinto and Alexandra M. Camacho-Luna reflected a turn toward personal advocacy.3 Coverage themes grew more socially current and specialized, including infant language development, multilingualism, social-media vocal trends, gender-affirming vocal care, communication access for nonverbal children, gaming hearing risks, autism, electronics and language, and Spanish-language outreach.
A standalone 2025 public recipient list is not as readily documented, so the clearest comparison is between 2023, 2024, and the 2026 cycle. In 2026, ASHA recognized nine total recipients.4 This slate mixed traditional newsrooms such as the Associated Press, Fox 5 DC, and Telemundo 49 Tampa with digital health commentary from KevinMD, broadcast segments on Coffee With America, nonprofit programming through Hilarity for Charity, the Lantern text-based feeding guidance program, and individual clinician advocates Becky Khayum and Michelle Hu.4 The presence of a Spanish-language outlet, a text-messaging program, and named SLP and audiology professionals shows the award now formally spans individuals, programs, and bilingual media, not just legacy press outlets.
The topical arc moved from broad consumer-facing hearing and speech coverage in 2023 to specialized identity and development issues in 2024, then to caregiver communication, dementia and Parkinson's care, patient safety, telehealth access, stuttering awareness, and practical family feeding support in 2026. That shift mirrors the profession's widening public role, from explaining communication disorders to showing how SLP and audiology expertise affects safety, caregiving, and everyday access.
Every media appearance is a form of clinical practice: it educates the public, reduces stigma, and connects families to care before a diagnosis is even made.
The ASHA Media Champion Award recognizes more than individual reporters. In 2026, recipients included national wire services, local TV stations, digital health platforms, ASHA-member clinicians, and partner organizations.1 If you are an SLP, you may nominate an outlet or organization that gave meaningful coverage to communication or swallowing disorders. If you work at an outlet, your coverage can be put forward by an ASHA member. ASHA's award portal states that, in most cases, nominees and/or sponsors must be ASHA members in good standing, so check the ASHA Membership Directory before submitting.3 Official award criteria are published each cycle on ASHA's award page and in the ASHA press room.
Nominations happen online through the ASHA Awards Nominations Center. The 2026 window opened January 9 and closed March 31 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.1 Future windows are not yet posted, but ASHA typically opens the call for nominations in January and announces details through The ASHA Leader and the ASHA website.2 After you complete the form and select Save and Finalize, you should receive an email confirmation.2 Deadlines are firm; ASHA's portal has previously stated that no exceptions are made for late submissions.3 Check the official ASHA award page in late fall or early winter for the next cycle dates.
Even if you do not win, these steps build a public record that makes a future Media Champion nomination much stronger. For current rules, deadlines, and any self-nomination guidance, visit ASHA's official Awards Nominations Center and the ASHA press room.
In ASHA's 2026 national poll, 84% of caregivers who had never worked with a professional providing communication or cognition services said they had either never heard of, or had only heard a small amount about, these therapy services.
