The Kurt Schork Memorial Fund (KSMF) is now accepting entries for its 2022 Awards in International Journalism to honour excellence in courageous reporting of conflict, corruption, human rights transgressions and other related issues.
The Awards will continue to be used to highlight the particular difficulties faced by freelance journalists, local reporters and fixers, as well as their courageous reporting. It also seeks to highlight the work of some of the unsung heroes of modern journalism.
The Kurt Schork Awards are split into three categories: Freelance Award to recognise journalists who travel to the world’s conflict zones, usually at great personal risk, to witness and report on the impact and consequences of these events; Local Reporter Award to recognise the often-overlooked work of journalists in developing nations (or countries in transition) who write about events in their homeland; and News Fixer Award which recognises local journalists and/or experts, hired by a visiting foreign reporter or news organisation, whose guidance and local knowledge materially benefited the content, impact and reach of the stories submitted.
Three winners, each of whom will receive a cash prize of $5,000, will be announced towards the end of this year, alongside an associated event.
Applicants for the Freelance Award and Local Reporter Award must submit three articles each while the News Fixer Award requires journalists to submit a nomination on behalf of a fixer who has assisted them with a story. A nomination will only be eligible if three stories are entered, but they can either be submitted by one journalist, or by up to three separate reporters.
Submitted articles must have been published between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022. Entries are acceptable from any print-based medium, such as newspapers and magazines, or established online publications. Blogs, personal websites and social media pages or channels are not accepted.
Articles can encompass war reporting, human rights issues, cross-border troubles, corruption or other controversial matters impacting on people’s lives. Judges will be looking for professionalism, high journalistic standards, and evidence of dedication and courage in obtaining the story. Submitted articles must be provided as a text file – MS Word (.doc or .docx) or similar text format (.rtf), or a PDF of a text file.
Along with their entries, applicants must also provide a CV or resumé about their education and journalism career or about that of the fixer being nominated; a passport-quality photo (JPEG, GIF or PNG file, size no larger than 250Kb) of the applicant or that of the nominated fixer; a high standard English translation of entries if the original articles are not in English; and a short statement explaining what the applicant had to do to get the story.
In the case of the News Fixer Award, the nominating journalist should include a statement of nomination; a copy of the story or stories generated because of the nominated fixer’s involvement; a statement that the nominee is aware that he/she is being nominated and has given permission for the nomination (or perhaps the nomination for anonymous if win). The awards panel will take into account nominations for fixers who have received more than one recommendation from journalists they have worked with; an acceptance from the nominator and nominee that they accept the terms of the competition; and two references.
Entrants should complete the online entry form (or a PDF for printing and posting if not possible). Those who have questions about the 2022 Awards process should please write to enquiries@ksmfund.org.
Submission of applications closes on May 31, 2022.
For detailed information and to apply, please visit: https://www.ksmfund.org/2022-awards.
