Entries for the $5,000 Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting for 2012 are now being accepted by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

The Toner Prize recognizes outstanding political reporting in a tribute to Robin Toner, the late national political correspondent for The New York Times and a summa cum laude graduate of Syracuse University with dual degrees in journalism and political science.

Deadline for entries is Jan. 20, 2013.

“The 2012 coverage of elections gives a special significance for the Toner Prize this year,” said Charlotte Grimes, the Knight Chair in Political Reporting and the administrator of the Robin Toner Program in Political Reporting. “Giving voters solid, insightful and factual information to make informed decisions is the core mission of political reporting – and a hallmark of the work of Robin Toner.”

When Jane Mayer, winner of the 2011 Robin Toner Prize, was rising in the field of journalism, she wore a red dress to a press conference by President Ronald Reagan.

“There’s the little girl in red!” Mayer recalled the shout from Reagan, who was known for noticing female reporters  in red. Being a woman was both an advantage and a disadvantage, Mayer said, when she became the first women to White House correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in 1984.

“I tried not to take offense. I just tried to take over the front page,” Mayer told the audience for the 2012 Toner Symposium at the S. I. Newhouse School on March 26.

Four pioneering women journalists will highlight the challenges and opportunities of reporting the news in the digital age at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in late March.

The women will share their experiences and insights in a panel discussion titled “Keeping a Place in the News: Journalism & Women 2012″ for the Toner Symposium on March 26. The symposium is part of The Robin Toner Program in Political Reporting. It celebrates the legacy of alumna Robin Toner, the first woman to be national political correspondent for The New York Times.  The event also includes awarding the $5,000 Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting to Jane Mayer of The New Yorker.

“Like Robin Toner, these women journalists are inspiring for their accomplishments,” said Charlotte Grimes, the Knight Chair in Political Reporting and administrator of the Toner Program.  The panel is especially meaningful for March, which is Women’s History Month, said Grimes.

The symposium is free and open to the public. It begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Hergenhan Auditorium of the Newhouse School.

The four panelists are: