The Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award 2022 in partnership with the UK Foreign Press Association (FPA) is open to journalists. Apply now! Thomson Foundation is celebrating 60 years of promoting excellence in journalism and to mark the occasion, we’re offering six rising stars the chance to connect with six of the best journalists in the industry as part of our prestigious Young Journalist Award 2022.
This year’s award will be extra special for another reason, too. It will be the first time in two years that our three finalists will be able to attend the glittering ceremony in London in person. The pandemic of the past two years has meant finalists could only attend virtually. We’re adding a bonus for our 60th anniversary that we’re calling “Connect 6.” Our three finalists, along with the next three individuals on our shortlist, will have the chance to receive six months of mentoring from six seasoned journalists from our alumni to commemorate the foundation’s 60 years in operation.
The three Young Journalist Award finalists will automatically qualify for the mentorship programme. The additional three will be selected from the shortlist of 12 to join them as part of our ongoing investment into ethical, independent and trusted journalism. If you are one of the selected six, you’ll be provided with a unique package of support and paired with an established journalist matched to your region from our extensive alumni network. You’ll learn from them how their exclusives and investigations have changed the world, and how yours can too.
In addition, all 12 journalists in the shortlist will be given space on our website and social media channels and receive a certificate from Thomson Foundation commending them on the high standard of their work.
Eligible:
AGE: Entrants must be 30 years of age or under on 28th November 2022.
LOCATION: For the purpose of this competition the “developing world” is defined as countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) of $20,000 or less. Entrants should be from a country that meets the GNI criteria and reporting from/in that country or, if not in their country of origination, in another country fitting the same GNI criteria.
PORTFOLIO: Each entrant should submit a portfolio of THREE published or broadcast pieces of work produced in the 12 months preceding 12th August, 2022 (the 12 months prior to the deadline for submissions).
The entries for the Young Journalist Award can be in any format: print, audio, video, multimedia, or a combination of all four. Applicants can provide URL links to their stories online. If necessary, they can use a file-sharing platform such as Google Drive for scans or PDFs of print articles, and for large audio or video files. A written statement of no more than 200 words per story giving a summary of the content and any impact it had on public debate in the country of publication or broadcast, should also be submitted.
LANGUAGE: Entries can be in any language but should be accompanied by a verbatim English-language translation.
VERIFICATION: Entries should be accompanied by a letter from the applicant’s current editor, on headed company notepaper verifying that it is the published work of the entrant. Where an entrant is freelance, or self-employed, verification can be provided by an editor from one of the publications/websites/broadcasters where the work appeared, or by a journalism academic familiar with the work of the entrant.
A verification letter must be supplied with your submission. this can be shared with us via a link to dropbox, google drive or similar. Alternatively, please send by email to awardfpa@thomsonfoundation.org with your name clearly marked in the subject line. please note, we will only accept verification letters via email, everything else should be provided using the online entry form.
COLLABORATION: Entrants should provide an explanation of any collaboration undertaken with colleagues or external organisations on the stories that they have submitted.
PLAGIARISM: Checks will be made for plagiarism and any entrant found to have submitted work which is not their own will be automatically disqualified.
Those who meet the criteria are welcome to submit a portfolio of three published pieces of work produced in the 12 months preceding the deadline for submissions, which is 12 August, 2022. They can be in any medium: print, audio, video or multimedia.
Focus Dates
- Deadline for entries: 12 August 2022 Entries must be submitted by 23:59 UK time on the night of deadline day
- Long shortlist of 12 announcement: 28 September 2022, World News Day
- Shortlist of six announcement: w/c 3 October 2022
- Three finalists announcement: w/c 10 October 2022
- Young Journalist Award winner announcement: 28 November 2022, FPA Awards
We look forward to seeing this year’s submissions for the Young Journalist Award. Good luck to all those entering.
How to apply
The entry form can be found here.
