african-story-challenge

Deadline: 13^th October 2013

The African Media Initiative (AMI) is pleased to announce the start of the second round of its pan-African journalism competition.

The African Story Challenge is now inviting applications for funding of great story ideas on health.

Twenty projects shortlisted for the final prize will be awarded grants of up to $20,000 each to produce health narratives that use innovative journalistic storytelling techniques around the theme of diseases prevention and treatment in Africa.

Shortlisted stories will focus specifically on issues such as: sanitation and water-borne diseases, infectious and noninfectious diseases, neglected diseases, vaccines and immunisation. Submissions should include investigative, data-driven stories that employ multi-platform approaches and engage the public through social media and other digital tools.

The African Story Challenge advisory council comprising senior journalists and editors will oversee the shortlisting process. The finalists will be brought together for intensive sessions to improve their project ideas. Cross-country reporting and collaboration or joint applications between different media organisations is highly encouraged.

An independent international panel of editors and media experts will judge the entries. Grantees who produce the best stories published or broadcast in media that reach African audiences will win cash prizes or a major reporting trip abroad.

The Story Challenge is a project of the African Media Initiative (AMI), the continent’s largest association of media owners and operators. AMI content development director and former Knight International Journalism Fellow Joseph Warungu is leading the project. The Knight Fellowships are administered by theInternational Center for Journalists(ICFJ).

“Without good health there is no wealth. This competition is aimed at encouraging journalists and media organisations to break away from the routine issues on the daily agenda and pitch to us bold and creative ideas on health,” said Warungu, a former BBC Africa Editor.

AMI Chief Executive Amadou Mahtar Ba added,

“we want to support innovation in the telling of more and better stories on health and development in Africa. AMI is committed to support the media to expand coverage of fundamental issues that matter to Africans and the building of a strong media sector.”

Winners of the first round of the grant programme, which opened in May 2013 and focused on Agriculture and Food Security, will be announced in November. Other themes to be launched next year in this $1M challenge include business and technology.

Key Dates

2^nd September 2013: Competition opens for entries

13^th October 2013: Competition closes for entries

18^th November 2013: 20 shortlisted candidates to be informed

12^th – 17^th January 2014: Intensive training boot camp

27^th January – 9^th March 2014: Field production and post-production. All 20 shortlisted candidates will be given reporting grants following the boot camp and will have six weeks to produce and Publish their stories

9^th March 2014: Submission of stories for judging

17^th March 2014 – 30^th March 2014: External judging process

April 2014: Announcement of winners

The African Story Challenge is supported by an $800,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The programme also has support from the African Development Bank, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).

Apply Now for the African Story Challenge

For More Information:

Visit the Official Webpage of the African Story Challenge

The deadline for submissions on agriculture is 14th June 2013

The African Story Challenge is a new $1 million programme of reporting grants to encourage innovative, multi-media storytelling that aims to improve the health and prosperity of Africans.

The African Story Challenge is a two-year pan-African project that seeks to challenge the media to expand coverage of fundamental issues that matter to Africans. Our goal is to contribute to the building of a strong media sector able to deliver content that matters to the African public.

In doing so the project aims to hold leaders accountable, spur better policies, increase transparency, encourage public engagement and disseminate vital information that will lead to more vibrant communities.

Objectives of the African Story Challenge

The goal of The African Story Challenge is to contribute to the building of a strong media sector able to deliver content that matters to the African public. We are looking for compelling, analytical, investigative and data-driven stories that will help spur better policies and healthier lives, increase transparency, hold officials accountable and disseminate vital information that will lead to more vibrant communities. We encourage entries that will use creative digital tools like mapping, crowd sourcing and visualisation to help tell the story.

Eligibility Criteria

This competition targets African journalists from around the continent. Entries will be accepted in English, French, Portuguese and Arabic. Stories in other African languages are also welcome but the proposal itself needs to be in English and there must be a media outlet ready to publish or broadcast your story in the language you have chosen.

Entries should use one or more of the following five platforms:

Print
Radio
TV
Photography/Video
Digital story telling/multimedia

Preference will be given to stories that lend themselves to multi-platform treatment. Multimedia stories are strongly encouraged.

The competition is open to all journalists aged 18 and above.

African journalists based outside the continent are welcome to apply as long as they have an outlet for their stories that is accessible to audiences in Africa.

Media organizations, online contributors with a demonstrated following or affiliated freelance journalists may apply.

All participants must address the prescribed development topics.

Participants can apply as part of a team or partnership. If a team wins, the prize will be shared by the team members.

All participants including freelance journalists must ensure they have at least one confirmed outlet (print, radio, TV or online) that will publish or broadcast their finished work in the selected language.

Participants will be selected based on geographic distribution, language, format/platform and editorial criteria (see judging criteria LINK).

Employees of AMI and ICFJ cannot enter the competition to avoid any conflict of interest.

Application Process

We will not accept applications or other materials by post, hand, fax or other channels. All you need to do is fill in the online entry form and attach to it a proposal of no more than 500 words.

Any supporting material, video or audio footage and images can be included with the post, but is not mandatory. Entries will be judged by the written proposal.

The competition will be divided into five themes, which are:

Agriculture and Food Security
Diseases: Prevention and Treatment
My Africa 2063
Maternal and Child Health
Business and Technology

We are launching with the theme Agriculture and Food Security. The deadline for submissions on agriculture is 14th June 2013 at 23.59 Central African Time. No late submissions will be accepted. See the key dates section for all other deadlines.

We will contact shortlisted entrants for the first theme – Agriculture and Food Security – by 24th June 2013.

Shortlisted candidates will need to have a valid passport and be available to travel and take part in a week-long training boot camp which will be held between 15th July and 9th August 2013. These shortlisted candidates will then be given reporting grants to undertake a month’s field production to complete their story. The winners will be announced at the Highway Africa conference at Rhodes University in South Africa on 2nd September 2013.

To enter the competition, please fill in the entry form, which includes space for a mandatory 500 word proposal on one of the following five themes:

Agriculture and Food Security;
Diseases: Prevention and Treatment;
My Africa 2063;
Maternal and Child Health;
Business and Technology.We have provided you with key subject areas under each of the themes. Your proposal can either be based directly on one of these subject areas or you also have the option of sending your own original story idea, as long as it fits within the framework of the themes.

Click Here to View Key Dates for the African Story Challenge 2013

Apply Now for the African Story Challenge

The African Story Challenge Health Cycle open for entries. ($20,000 for 20 Projects)

The African Story Challenge 2013 (1 Million Dollars Reporting Grant for African Journalists).