The Penney-Missouri awards were conceived by James Cash Penney, founder of the J. C. Penney retail chain, who hoped improving women's page sections would turn them into more effective advertising channels for his stores.
[5] Penney established the award at the University of Missouri because he believed the school had the necessary prestige.
[5] Kimberly Wilmot Voss's research suggests that as early as 1960, when the awards were established, women's page sections were reporting on a broader range of issues than expected, often creating the kind of coverage the awards were intended to encourage: "more than just society notices and photographs of brides".
[5] Award winners were announced for 2008 and previous years in the media and Missouri School of Journalism press releases.
[6][7][8][9][10] However, at least some of the trophies and $1,000 cash prizes for the 2008 winners were only distributed after public reporting of what journalism reporter Jim Romenesko described as "the no-prizes flap," and as late as May 2009, nine months after the announcement of winners.