Deadline: 30 September 2010
African reporters are invited to submit their best investigative stories for a journalism award. The competition is open to both print and broadcast journalists, and the deadline is September 20.
The competition, sponsored by the Forum for African Investigative Reporters, is open to investigative stories published between July 1, 2009 and July 1, 2010. There will be three cash prizes awarded at a conference in November, including the Editors' Courage Award, given to an editor who withstood censorship pressure.
Rules
1. Print, online, radio and TV journalists employed by the local media in African countries are invited to submit an application (individually OR in a group).
2. Applicants can only enter once (individually OR in a group) each contest. The laureates of previous competitions may present a fresh application.
3. Applicants must submit ONE journalistic item or an extract of a series of journalistic works on ONE subject Applicants submitting more than one application will be disqualified.
4. For applicants submitting a radio or TV document, the associated script must be attached. Journalistic pieces or an extract from a series of these submitted for the competition must not exceed 10 000 characters (circa 5 pages incl. spaces).
5. Submitted scripts (TV, radio) or the written journalistic items (written press, internet) should not exceed 10,000 characters (about 5 pages inclusive of spaces). Applications will be evaluated solely on the basis of written material provided, so as to preclude favouritism of one media over another.
6. The submitted journalistic item or extract from a series of journalistic pieces must have been published in print or broadcast on the radio or on TV between 1 July 2009 and 1 July 2010.
7. The documents must be submitted in either English, French or Portuguese, along with a compulsory summary in the same language, which may not exceed 10 lines or 600 signs, including spaces. This summary should be carefully written since it will be used in editorial pre-selection. This preselection will be carried out by the FAIR Awards Committee.
8. Each selected applicant must enclose:
* either the original work with a letter from the applicant/author authorising FAIR to use and distribute the work in the context of the African Investigative Journalism Award
* or the copy of the work with a similar letter from editor in chief or of the professional body to which the applicant has accorded copyright.
9. Radio journalists are required to submit a copy of their work on CD-ROM or on-line in MP3 format. TV journalists are required to submit their work on DVD or on-line in Windows Media Player format.
10. The name of the author and date of publication or broadcast should be clearly indicated on all items submitted (print and on-line). (Note that no work submitted for consideration for the African Investigative Journalism Award shall be returned).
11. An independent jury made up of African media professionals will examine the shortlist of pre-selected journalistic items and award the First Prize as well as the runner up.
12. The Jury will adopt an evaluation method based on a 100 point scale, as follows :
* 20 points for the importance and scope of the subject
*40 points for professional quality and investigative depth
* 20 points for relevance to the audience
* 20 points for originality
13. FAIR will award the prizes on the basis of a proposal from the jury at its annual pan-African IJ Summit. Three prizes will be awarded:
African Investigative Journalism Award Eur 4.000
Runner up AIJA Eur 2.500
Editors’ Courage Award Eur 3.500
14. The jury will consider:
* the quality of professionalism and journalistic standards applied in the preparation and distribution of the work;
* the piece's outstanding qualities and its impact on and relevance to public opinion.
The Grand Jury may decide not to recommend a Prize if the criteria listed above are not met.
15. The decision of the jury shall be final.
16. FAIR has the right to reproduce and disseminate the works submitted in its own publications and publicity material for the African Investigative Journalism Award.
17. Journalistic works written by current members of staff of FAIR or any of its partners (above mentioned) will not be considered for the Award. These individuals are allowed to submit their work 3 years after having left their position.
18. The deadline for entries is September 30th 2010
19. Send in entries to facilitator@fairreporters.org