“PIWA-Information Societies” Prize – 2008 / Haayo Prizes

Within the framework of its objective to strengthen journalist capacity on ICTs of the its “Haayo-Mediactic” (see below) project funded by the Open Society Institute West Africa (OSIWA), the Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) is launching a media production contest on ICTs. The contest is open to all print and broadcast media journalists from West and Central Africa.

1. THEME AND MODALITIES

1-1- Theme of the 2008 edition

Journalists who wish to take part in this contest should submit an article or a radio programme on the keynote theme:

« ICTs and elections in Africa »

 The article or radio programme should focus specifically on one of the following issues:
 the use of Internet during campaigns (« cybercampaigns”, public debate using Internet) ;
 impact of Internet on campaigns and elections;
 mobile telephony and elections ;
 ICTs and elections’ transparency (electoral file, voter card, data transmission security, statistics);
 ICT theme in election candidates’ programmes.

1-2 Modalities

Journalists who wish to take part in this contest should send one or two articles or radio productions presenting an outlook on the issues mentioned above. This outlook should be based on the presentation and analysis of situations, activities or projects in one or several countries in West and Central Africa. Experiences of others African regions or continents can also be compared to West and Central African experiences.

Articles and radio productions previously published/broadcast (at most 6 months ago) can be submitted (except those that already won awards in other competitions or those submitted to or produced for the Panos Institute West Africa).

The articles should contain between 6, 000 and 9, 000 letters. The radio production should be between five and ten minutes long and saved in mp3 or ogg format. It should be processed and put together and should not just be a simple report. Applicants should submit their productions to Panos Institute West Africa in digital format (CD, USB key, electronic mail - no floppy disk) no later than 15 March 2008.

Articles or radio productions can be submitted in French or in English.

2. PRIZES

PIWA will award three prizes to the best productions (written media or radio) in the contest.

For Print Media:

A cash prize of FCFA 1, 000, 000 (about USD 2,000) will be awarded to the journalist with the best production;

  For Radio:

A cash prize of FCFA 500, 000 (about USD 1,000) will be awarded to the journalist with the best radio production. He or she will also be invited to a prize-giving ceremony that will take place in Dakar, mid-2008, during a side event of a regional workshop organized by PIWA (dates to be precised);

 Special Prize:

A cash prize of FCFA 300, 000 (about USD 600) will be awarded to the journalist with the most promising production (either for print media or radio).

The reference currency is CFA Franc. Prizes will be paid in CFA or converted in the local currency of recipients.

3. APPLICATIONS

All applications should include the following:

 One or two articles in French or in English on one of the topics proposed;

 OR one or two radio productions in French or English between 5 and 10 minutes long

 A letter signed by the journalist to attest that (a) she/he is truly the author of the article(s) or radio production(s) sent; - (b) the article or radio production was not awarded in other contests;

Please include adequate references if your article or radio production was previously published/broadcast.

 A detailed CV that shows, if need be, a list of previous articles or radio productions on ICTs (mentioning the newspaper/website where they were published, the date of publication, etc.);

 A document attesting that the candidate is actually a journalist in a press organ.

An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent accordingly, via e-mail and within 48 hours, to applicants whose files have been received.

4. SELECTION

A panel of judges, made up of journalists and media and ICT experts, will assess the quality of the articles and radio productions.

Main selection criteria are specifically as follows:

 originality of the subject / experience presented;

 quality of analysis and line of argumentation;

 quality of the article or radio production

 adherence to norms/formats (6,000 to 9,000 letters for the articles, 5 to 10 minutes for the radio productions).

All applications must be sent by electronic mail to the two electronic addresses provided below.

They may also be sent by post or deposited at the Panos Institute West Africa office in Dakar at the address provided below.

5. DATES

All applications should arrive at Panos Institute West Africa no later than March 15th 2008.

Hence, it is strongly recommended to couple any dispatch by post mail with a submission via electronic mail to the email addresses provided below.

The results will be published on 31 March 2008 on the Panos Institute West Africa website; email notifications will be sent to all applicants. A prize-giving ceremony will take place in Dakar, mid-2008, during a side event of a regional workshop organized by PIWA (date to be precised). Only the broadcast media winner will invited to that ceremony.

6- SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS 6-1 Publication rights on the articles

PIWA will not return submitted productions to their authors. The authors accord PIWA the right to publish, for non-commercial purposes, the productions received. The journalists whose productions are going to be published will be informed. They will still have copyrights on these productions.

6-2 Reservation clause on the awarding of prizes

PIWA reserves the right not to award prizes if the articles submitted are not up to an appreciable quality, or if the number of responses received is too low. The decisions made by the panel of judges and PIWA are supreme and beyond all possible dispute. All participants in this contest implicitly accept the rules presented in this document.

7. ADDRESS FOR SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS

It is mandatory to send applications to the two email addresses below:

Email: judith_lenti_rbkpn_yahoo.fr AND [->contac...

The subject of your mail should be “PIWA media contest on ICT”.

Applications may also, in addition, be sent by post mail to the following address:

Dakar - Senegal

If you wish to send your applications by post mail, please be sure to send it by the end of February (because of postal delays). In any case, only applications received by 15 March 2008 will be judged.

8. CONTACTS

For more information on this contest or if you are facing any problem for attached pieces or delivery, please contact Judith Lenti or Ken Lohento contact_rbkpn_cipaco.org - Tel: +221 33 849 16 66

For more information on the first edition of the “PIWA-Information Societies” Prize, please check http://mediatic.panos-ao.org/articl....

About the Haayo Project

Haayo-Mediatic is an experimental joint project of the Panos Institute West Africa and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

The objectives of this project are the following:
 to bring into limelight issues around "media and ICTs" in West Africa,
 to bring into limelight innovative use of ICTs at grassroots’ level; - enhance the sharing of good practices and experiences in the media and the ICT sectors;
 to consolidate the works of media reporting in the ICT sector in West Africa; - to consolidate the role of the media as enablers of good governance for the advent of open and developed societies in West Africa.