OFFICIAL CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Water Open Eye Award 2018
MiCT, seecon, and BORDA are proud to introduce the new “Water Open Eye Award” for excellence in constructive water reporting in the Middle East. The award – intended to encourage and promote high-quality, conflict-sensitive journalistic pieces on water-related topics – is part of the project “Communications and Media Training on Water in the Middle East.” In workshops in Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Kurdistan Region/Northern-Iraq, the project provides trainings in for at least 60 established journalists and young professionals including bloggers and social media reporters.
Funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the project is linked to the Blue Peace Middle East Initiative and contributes to its objective of achieving sustainable water cooperation and management in the region.
Topic:
We seek to enable constructive reporting on key water challenges, to encourage more sustainable water management as a means of preventing conflict and enhancing quality of life. In this way, media can help improve water governance by pushing water-related issues onto political agendas, scrutinizing and holding responsible parties accountable, raising public awareness and deepening understanding of challenges and solutions, and empowering citizens to question decision makers and demand action.
Who is eligible:
All participants in our Advanced Water Reporting Training are invited to submit up to three different stories published after November 2017 in any medium (TV, radio, print including online editions, or online-only media). If you submit more than one story, each story must have been published in a different medium.
Award criteria:
● Focus on the human side of water-related issues
● Application of the constructive journalism method: Situating water issues in the bigger picture with relevant context, facilitating debate not only on problems but also on possible solutions
How to apply:
● Entries must be submitted in PDF, MP3 or MP4 format. Alternatively, entries may be submitted as links to stories available online.
● All submissions must include a short CV and a brief description of the publishing medium (e.g. name of media outlet, country, reach, frequency of publication).
● In your submission, indicate which workshop you attended.
A jury of international water and media experts will select three winners to receive the Water Open Eye Award, prize money of 500 USD (1st place), 300 USD (2nd place) or 200 USD (3rd place).
Email all submissions to: waterstory@mict-international.org
Deadline for submissions is 30 August 2018
