To begin to pinpoint the forces at work in prize journalism, a study examined the value that managing editors of daily newspapers place on awards. Whether editors agree with their papers' awards policies and what they feel most affects reporters' attitudes about contests were also explored. In October 1984, questionnaires were mailed to 317 managing editors randomly selected by circulation size from the 1984 "Editor and Publisher Yearbook," yielding 157 replies. Results showed that most newspapers in this study had policies, usually informal, that encouraged prize seeking. The largest papers were most likely to have formal awards policies, while lack of policy was most prevalent among the smallest papers. Most editors concurred with their papers' policies on contests. Increased prestige for the newspaper and for the reporter were regarded by most editors as among the greatest benefits of journalism awards, but only half of the editors considered proof of excellence as a primary value of competitions. (Twenty-three notes are attached.) (ARH)