The European Network for Agricultural Journalists (ENAJ) and the European Commission, Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) have launched the third edition of the Journalist Prize for Young Journalists.
The goal is to honour journalistic skills of young professionals and to motivate young journalists to write about topics related to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Who can participate?
Journalists from ENAJ member countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Romania.
To be eligible for entry, the participant journalist must be no older than 35 years old on 31.12.2014 and come from/be active in one of the countries listed above.
The forms, rules, latest information, etc. regarding the competition is available on www.ag-press.eu (registration needed), www.enaj.pro (open to public) and on various national guild websites.
Competition requirements & application
The article must
- be a story of maximum 800 words. If the published article was longer than 800 words, it must be shortened for application.
- be published in a print publication or online between January,1, 2013 and September, 30, 2014
- cover a story about a young farmer / young farmers in European agriculture
- have been investigated on farms and include at least one quotation of a farmer
- be written in one of the official languages of the competing countries (EN, DE, NL, FR, CZ, DK, FI, HU, IT, PL, SL, SK, ES, SV, HR, RO)
- be a single (written) story – multiple articles that make up a series are not allowed. (In such a situation, select one article from the series to enter.)
- be presented as a Word document, without layout or photos (to facilitate translation). A link or pdf of the published story can be added for information.
The application form (attached) and the article must be sent electronically to the national ag journalist association (see contact list below) by the deadline 24 October 2014.
Selection and the jury
ENAJ representatives in each participating country will nominate the best article, thereafter. DG AGRI will translate them into English. The ENAJ representatives will proof read the translations before they are given to the final jury composed by two ENAJ members/journalists, a DG AGRI staff member, representing a well-read audience, and the European Commission’s spokesperson for Agriculture and Rural Development, because the prize honours good journalism.
Specific importance will be given to the journalistic relevance of the story, correctness and depth of investigation, content, objectivity, balance, comprehensibility to the reader, style and quotations. The layout and design of the article will not be considered in the judging since we ask for a word document.
Prizes
The winners will be contacted personally and the announcement will be made on the e-platform for European journalists, www.ag-press.eu and on the ENAJ website (enaj.pro) by mid-December 2014.
The top three winners will all be invited to the Ag-press network event of DG AGRI in Brussels (January/February 2015) and the first prize winner will also be invited to participate in of the press trips DG AGRI organises for journalists in 2015.