President of AIPS
The International Sports Press Association (AIPS), the peak professional body representing the international sports media worldwide, is now accepting entries from professional journalists, whether directly employed or freelancers for its 2021 AIPS Sport Media Awards aimed at celebrating sports media excellence and inspiring a new horizon for sports journalists across the globe.
AIPS looks to celebrate those professionals who continue to produce the best, most creative content worldwide. The Awards, now in their fourth edition, offer recognition to the very best sport storytellers across all media platforms including photography, video, print, digital, podcasts, and sports blogs etc.
The first edition of the Awards ceremony was held in Lausanne in January 2019, the second edition was in Budapest in February 2020 while the third edition took place in an online live show from the castle of Vigevano, Italy, in March 2021.
The photography category is open to professional photographers who, on traditional or new media platforms, can best capture in still image sports actionthat include an image that depicts a moment of excellence or athletic skill from a particular sporting event; for portfolio, a portfolio of at least three but no more than five sports photos that may be from the same sport or same event, or from different events and different sports.
The writing categories are dedicated to the written word, encompassing colour writing and column writing on traditional or new media platforms. For Best Column, entry should show a knowledgeable opinion and demonstrate research, relevance, authority and an original view on a topic while Best Colour Piece should bean article that captures the emotion of an occasion in and around the sporting world, and that shows preparation, creativity, outstanding reporting and a flair for storytelling
Audiosubmission can be either a radio report, podcast, piece of commentary or other audio submission that is not only compelling but also displays some technical innovation and quality research.
The video categories are dedicated to those who, on traditional or new media platforms, harness the moving image in sport, from the cameraman to the video web caster, to the producer or production team represented by one individual covering a sport event and will include Athlete Profile, a video longer than 10 minutes that portrays a captivating, in-depth image of an athlete or a prominent and relevant sport figure; Documentary, a video longer than 10 minutes that tells a compelling and revealing story about any aspect of the sport world, showing qualitative research and editorial input combined with quality filmmaking; Short Feature, a video shorter than 10 minutes in length on any sporting subject with strong storytelling, innovative filming and journalistic relevance.
Technical Requirements
The Young Reporters category, which includes the best young reporters in photography, best young reporters in writing and best young reporters in broadcasting (audio and video), is open to professionals that are under 30 (born on or after January 1, 1992). Each of the winners will receive a scholarship in a major international sports event.
Applications may come from AIPS cardholders as well as those who are not members of the association but must come from one of the countries represented by the 161-member national associations. (Please refer to the full list on the Awards website, https://www.aipsmedia.com/. All entrants must be persons who were at least 18 years of age on November 10, 2020.
Each award consists of an original trophy and prize money of US$8,000 for the winner; second place winners will receive US$3,000 while third place winners get US$2,000 in each of the different categories.
Entries can be made in any language but with English translation (for written and audio submissions) and English subtitles (for videos) as additional material could also be required in the future.
Submissions can be made only via the Awards website before November 4, 2021, 18:00 Central European Time. Supporting documents and proof of publication are also to be submitted only via the website. A maximum of two separate submissions per entrant are allowed across all categories of the awards.
For more information about the awards, please visit https://www.aipsawards.com/awards and for submission of entries first create an account at https://aipsawards.com/sma/.
