The Young Journalist Award – in partnership with the UK Foreign Press Association – is Thomson Foundation’s annual journalism competition dedicated to finding and inspiring ambitious journalists from across the globe.
Now in its ninth year, the award enables journalists aged 30 and under, from countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of less than $20,000, to send in their best stories.
Judges of the award look for stories that are revelatory, prompt public debate and have led to, or have the potential to lead to, positive change in society.
In the year of COP26, the pivotal UN climate change conference, it is fitting that we should introduce an environmental component to our 2021 Young Journalist Award. Applicants will still be required to submit a portfolio of three stories and these can be a mixture of investigative pieces and human-interest stories. However, we will be asking all entrants to ensure at least ONE of the three pieces submitted has an environmental focus.
Application Requirements
Applicants will still be required to submit a portfolio of three stories in any medium (print, audio, video, multimedia, or a combination of all four) and these can be a mixture of investigative pieces and human-interest stories. However, we will be asking all entrants to ensure at least ONE of the three pieces submitted has an environmental reporting element.
For clarity, environmental reporting is covering stories about the interaction of people and the natural world and the issues related to that interaction. Environmental stories should be focused on one or more of the subjects covered by environmental reporting: sustainability, pollution, nature/biodiversity and/or climate change.
Our free online courses in environmental journalism are available to help journalists investigate local stories and understand the environmental drivers behind them.
The portfolio of work submitted for the Young Journalist Award must be in the 12 months preceding the competition closing date, which is September 10th, 2021.
Benefits
- Three finalists will be chosen by an independent judging panel selected by the UK Foreign Press Association (FPA) and an overall Young Journalist Award winner will be revealed on the night of the FPA Awards on Monday 29th November, 2021.
- All three finalists will be awarded £1,000 learning bursaries or funds to buy equipment.
Application Deadline: September 10th 2021
