Call for Submissions: Human Rights & Religious Freedom Journalism Awards 2023 (India)

The Human Rights and Religious Freedom Journalism Awards are looking for outstanding stories that explore the questions of human rights and the lived reality of religious minorities and marginalized communities in India.

Judges will give priority to stories that highlight issues either missing from mainstream media coverage or covered inadequately, that explore new angles on familiar topics,  that challenge misconceptions, and counter stereotypes about marginalized communities.

Categories

• This year’s categories are as follows:
  • Best Text Reporting on Human Rights & Religious Freedom
    • This category honors the best text reportage (1000 words or longer) on unreported or under-reported human rights and religious freedom issues in India.
  • Best Photo Story on Human Rights and Religious Freedom
    • This category honors exceptional photojournalism on human rights and religious freedom issues in India. Single photos are not allowed in this category. Entrants must submit a piece with a minimum of three and a maximum of 10 photographs. The photos must be accompanied by captions.
  • Best Video Story on Human Rights and Religious Freedom
    • This category is for the best video report on human rights and religious freedom issues in India. The video story must be of 4 minutes to 25 minutes in duration.
  • HRRF Young Journalist of the Year Award 2023
    • The Human Rights & Religious Freedom Young Journalist of the Year Award recognizes a young journalist (30 years of age or under as of July 31, 2023) in any medium (text, photo, video, or multimedia) who has made a substantial contribution to Indian journalism during 2022 in defense of human rights and religious freedom. Journalists can submit three to five best stories. All media formats are acceptable.
  • HRRF Best Media Organization Award
    • This award honors independent media organizations (news website, newspaper or a magazine) that exhibit moral, ethical or physical courage in the pursuit of bringing truth to the masses. The selected organization must use media to address social, political, cultural and economic issues concerning Indian minorities and marginalized communities.
    • This category doesn’t require submissions. News organizations will be recommended and selected by the awards committee. The winner will be announced during the award ceremony.

Prize Information

• Best Text Reporting on Human Rights & Religious Freedom
  • This award includes a cash prize of INR 50,000 and a plaque.
• Best Photo Story on Human Rights and Religious Freedom
  • This award carries a cash prize of INR 50,000 and a plaque.
• Best Video Story on Human Rights and Religious Freedom
  • This award carries a cash prize of INR 50,000 and a plaque.
• HRRF Young Journalist of the Year Award 2023
  • This award carries a cash prize of INR 50,000 and a plaque.
• HRRF Best Media Organization Award
  • This award carries a cash prize of INR 100,000 rupees and a plaque. In case of a tie, the award money will be equally shared between the winners.

Eligibility Criteria

• The award is open to journalists of any nationality who have reported on the human rights and religious freedom issues in India.
• At this point, only stories written in English are eligible for the award. However, in the video category, the video stories submitted in any language are eligible for the award as long as they are accompanied with the english subtitles.
• The stories must be published either in newspapers (local, regional, national or international), magazines (online and print) or news websites. Stories published on personal blogs are not eligible for the award.
• Each category may be single-authored or multi-authored.
• They invite entries of reports published between March 1, 2022 to July 31, 2023.
• Journalists can apply for awards in multiple categories.
• Journalists may submit a single piece or a published series on the same topic or issue.
• All submitted works will be evaluated based on the overall merit of the piece. It will be judged not only on quality of reporting but also on investigative effort, informational value, resourcefulness, accuracy and contribution to the overall understanding of the issue being discussed.
• No submission fees are charged.
• Entries must be submitted through the online platform.

Details

• Both shortlist and winners will be announced during the award ceremony on Saturday, October 14, 2023 at the Plano Event Center in Plano, Texas, United States.

For more information, visit IAMC.