225 Magazine receives national and regional recognition for journalism and design

Cue the confetti! 225 Magazine recently claimed multiple national and regional titles for writing, design and more.

225 received national awards from the Society for Features Journalism’s 2026 Excellence-in-Features competition. The magazine also took home two Green Eyeshade Awards, a regional journalism competition in the Southeast judged by the Society of Professional Journalists. And 225 also nabbed a first-place win and two finalist spots from the Diamond Journalism Awards, a regional contest sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists’ Arkansas Pro Chapter.

Check out the 2025 stories, issues and spreads that received recognition below. Cheers to our team of writers, editors, photographers and designers!

2026 Excellence-in-Features Awards (Society for Features Journalism):

• Finest in Features Sweepstakes Award, FOURTH PLACE, Division 1: 225 Magazine (This category recognizes the publications that garner the most honors in the contest’s other 18 categories.)
• Special Product, FIRST PLACE, Division 1: 20^th Anniversary Issue (edited by Kelli Bozeman, Olivia Deffes, Laura Furr Mericas)

Judge’s comments: How do you involve readers in an anniversary issue? Follow the lead of 225 Magazine! Especially if the readers include an eclectic group of Baton Rougeans like the United Cajun Navy, Angel Reese and a family of restaurants famous for blue-cheese chips. [You will get hungry.] This ambitious issue is well-executed with tremendous reach into and involvement by the community. You will find stories about food, fashion, corn dogs – and cake! [You will get hungry again.] It’s not easy to carry an anniversary theme throughout most of an issue with this much fun. And the effort is so persistent that I thought the number of pages might be themed at 225 [it wasn’t, but it had me thinking]. Blow out the candles! I’m looking forward to the 30th, 40th and as many more anniversaries as this publication can muster.

• Food Writing Portfolio, FIRST PLACE, Division 1: Maggie Heyn Richardson—“Mise en place,” “Comfort food” and “Things that go thump”

Judge’s comments: This writer has found her voice, an essential ingredient, and she combines it with thoughtful, spot-on descriptions, like “the worn, whitewashed paint on the plywood floor” of an old restaurant that “reveals years of determined steps.”

• Arts & Entertainment Feature, HONORABLE MENTION, Division 1: Maggie Heyn Richardson, “After 79 years, Theatre Baton Rouge sits empty. What its stunning closure means for local theater”

2026 Green Eyeshade Awards (Society of Professional Journalists):

• Light Feature Writing, FIRST PLACE: Olivia Deffes, “Time After Time”

• Inside and Feature Design, SECOND PLACE: Melinda Gonzalez Galjour— “Capital City classics,” “All aboard the Nuss Bus” and “Gold standard”

2026 Diamond Journalism Awards (Society of Professional Journalists—Arkansas Pro):

• Special section/niche publication, FIRST PLACE: Tiger Pride, August 2025 (Jennifer Tormo Alvarez, Hoa Vu and Melinda Gonzalez Galjour)
• Graphics/illustrations, FINALIST: Melinda Gonzalez Galjour, “Gold standard”
• Cover design, FINALIST: 2025 covers—March, June and September 2025 (Jennifer Tormo Alvarez, Melinda Gonzalez Galjour and Collin Richie)