Joe Scarborough of Morning Joe, The Week editor-at-large Margaret Carlson, and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel at this year's Opinion Awards

he Week Opinion Awards are the only awards to recognize and celebrate the nation's best opinion writing.

Each year, The Week presents awards in three categories: Columnist of the Year, Editorial Cartoonist of the Year, and Blogger of the Year. Senior editors of The Week, along with a select group of journalists and academics evaluate the candidates looking to acknowledge those who most consistently elevated the level of public discourse. The Week's Opinion Awards are presented in partnership with the Aspen Institute. Winners are announced at a high-profile invitation-only event in Washington, D.C.

The Week Opinion Awards is a natural evolution of the magazine's editorial mission: To select and highlight reasoned, lucid, and insightful commentary, as well as to further intelligent dialogue about current events in a non-partisan manner.

This year the Opinion Awards were held on April 20, and included the awards ceremony and a panel discussion titled "Battle for the Soul of a Party," moderated by Sir Harold Evans, Editor-at-Large of The Week.

Watch this year's winners, panelists and attendees stop for interviews on the red carpet: