Nominations open for Sebrae Journalism Award – Brazil

In this 11th edition, PSJ innovates with the creation of the special category University Journalism. The objective is to encourage journalistic production, with a focus on entrepreneurship, developed by Communication students from higher education institutions across Brazil. It is an opportunity to expand knowledge of the small business agenda among future journalists, as well as recognize new talents and encourage the training of qualified professionals.

Themes

• The central theme of this edition is “The contribution of small businesses to transforming local realities”. Small businesses account for 95% of the country’s formal enterprises (covering individual microentrepreneurs, microenterprises and small businesses), account for 30% of GDP, directly or indirectly impacting 47% of the Brazilian population (1). They are responsible for generating eight out of every ten formal jobs in 2023 (2), playing a crucial role in the scenario of economic recovery, increased income and job creation.
• In this context, the Sebrae Journalism Award will reward articles that best address the topic, considering the various aspects related to the universe of entrepreneurship in Brazil, such as those listed below:
  • Entrepreneurship: theme that addresses entrepreneurial initiatives and presents guidance on opening formal micro and small businesses in Brazil, their maintenance and expansion, as well as their relevance in the economic and social context in which they find themselves.
  • Productivity and Competitiveness: about companies, initiatives, projects and services that boost productivity and competitiveness among micro and small companies.
  • Innovation and Startups: addresses innovation practices or proposals that encourage innovation among small businesses, as well as the development and strengthening of the startup ecosystem.
  • Productive Inclusion and Sustainability: about actions, projects and businesses that encourage the generation of income and employment in communities or among vulnerable populations, as well as actions by entrepreneurs who manage the business focused on social responsibility, working on aspects of the agenda ESG and diversity, transforming local realities.
  • Digital Transformation: about the digitalization of business, transformation in the way of meeting customer needs, actions to promote digital transformation or innovative businesses anchored in this theme.
  • Public Policies and Legislation: addresses public actions from all spheres of government and specific legislation with an impact on the world of small businesses, such as possible changes to the MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur), tax simplifications such as those arising from reforms in the system tax, among other initiatives.
  • Stimulating consumption in small businesses: addresses actions to raise awareness of the importance of small businesses and encourage consumption, such as the Compre do Pequeno movement, as well as partnerships and arrangements developed by entrepreneurs to leverage their businesses within the concept of valorization of the little ones.
  • Access to credit: on the financial management of small businesses, difficulties in accessing credit, the credit scenario in Brazil, the importance of loans for the maintenance of companies and content that provides services in relation to taking out loans in Brazil.

Categories and Special Prizes

• The Sebrae Journalism Award will include 4 (four) main categories and 1 (one) special category, namely:
  • Main Categories
    • Sebrae Text Journalism Award – awarded to the best article published in printed vehicles, newspapers or magazines, based in Brazil, or portals, news sites and blogs (digital journalistic projects in general), which include the production of their own content and which do not be it just reproduction of content already published on another platform.
    • Sebrae Audio Journalism Award – for the best content broadcast on radio stations based in Brazil or for the best podcast broadcast on streaming platforms, in Portuguese.
    • Sebrae Video Journalism Award – for the best content broadcast on television channels or for videos published on journalism channels on digital platforms, in Portuguese.
    • Sebrae Photojournalism Award – for the best photo or sequence of photos published in articles in printed vehicles, newspapers or magazines, based in Brazil, or websites of journalistic companies.
  • Special Category
    • University Journalism – for the best journalistic content (in the Text, Audio, Video or Photo modalities) that addresses topics related to the universe of entrepreneurship in Brazil and has been developed by university students during an undergraduate course in Social Communication, with a qualification in Journalism.
    • A special prize will also be awarded, namely:
      • Sebrae Grand Prize for Journalism – for the best content among all winners in the main categories of Text, Audio, Video and Photo.
    • A tribute is also planned, namely:
      • Entrepreneur Partner Journalist – tribute from the National Jury to a journalist who stands out in encouraging coverage of topics of interest and providing guidance to small business owners.

The Award

• Sebrae will offer working tools to the winning journalists:
  • Winners of the 4 (four) main categories mentioned in item 3 of these regulations, with 1 (one) winner per category: a notebook.
  • Sebrae Grand Prize for Journalism: a state-of-the-art cell phone, with camera and video and photo editing capabilities, to be combined with the notebook, received as the winning prize in its category.
  • Special category University Journalism: a state-of-the-art cell phone, with a camera and video and photo editing capabilities.
  • The winners of the National Stage will receive a trophy.
  • Journalists and university students who sign up for the Sebrae Journalism Award authorize the reproduction of their work, in whole or in part, in initiatives under the responsibility of the award organizers, such as institutional pieces, where the informative/cultural nature predominates, with the purpose of exalting journalistic work, regardless of any license, remuneration or payment to its author or authors; as well as the reproduction of official videos and photos of events related to the award.

Conditions of Participation

• In the main categories (Text, Audio, Video and Photo):
  • Articles and reports published in printed journalism, web journalism, radio and television stations based in Brazil, broadcast from June 5, 2023 until June 2, 2024 , may compete for the Sebrae Journalism Award (PSJ). as well as podcasts and videos broadcast on digital video platforms in the same period. The articles/reports must necessarily be published in Portuguese.
  • Each professional may compete with a maximum of 3 (three) works, regardless of the category. However, there is no limit to registrations per vehicle.
  • Each professional can only register for a single Federative Unit.
  • Works by national vehicles, but which were produced by local squares, can be registered in the local/state square.
  • The main categories will have State, Regional and National stages.
• In the special category University Journalism:
  • Materials and reports published in a university laboratory vehicle (in the Text, Audio, Video or Photo format) that have been broadcast from June 5, 2023 to June 2, 2024 can compete in the special category of University Journalism. The articles/reports must necessarily be published in Portuguese.
  • Only graduates who are, in 2024, enrolled in an undergraduate course in Social Communication, with a qualification in Journalism, from public and private universities across Brazil recognized by the Ministry of Education (MEC) will be able to compete for the award. Or who completed their degree between 2023 and 2024, but were students at the time the work entered for the award was produced.
  • Each university student may compete with a maximum of 3 (three) works. However, there is no limit to registrations per educational institution.
  • Each university student can only register for a single Federative Unit.
  • The special category University Journalism will have State, Regional and National stages.
  • Participation in the award for works entered in the main categories (Text, Audio, Video and Photo) and in the special category University Journalism will be made possible in the following ways:
    • State Stage
      • The state stage of the Sebrae Journalism Award will be held in the locations where the Sebrae board, in each Federation Unit, decides to hold it. This stage will comply with the same criteria described in items 2 and 4 of this regulation, considering the four main categories (Text, Audio, Video and Photo) and the special category University Journalism described in item 3 of this regulation.
      • The states that chose to carry out stages for the 11th Sebrae Journalism Award are: AC, AL, AM, AP, BA, CE, DF, ES, GO, MA, MG, MT, PA, PB, PE, PI, PR, RJ, RN, RO, RR, RS, SC, SE, SP and TO.
      • The state of MS did not accept the award. However, journalists and university students from this state will be able to register and have their work evaluated by a technical jury, in accordance with items 2 and 4 of this regulation. Only those selected in each category will compete in the regional and national stages of the award.
      • The regulations for the 11th Sebrae Journalism Award are applicable to all states that join the state stage. It is up to each UF to award or not an award to the representatives of the winning works. The state award will be defined by each UF and the winning works may be awarded with items such as : travel or training or work equipment or a certain amount of money.
    • Regional Stage (elimination stage for the national stage – no prizes included)
      • The winning works of the State Stage will be evaluated by 5 (five) Regional Juries (one for each region of the country), formed by Sebrae employees in any UF.
      • The winning works in each of the 4 (four) main categories and in the special category of University Journalism will be considered as competitors for the PSJ Regional Stage, in all Federation Units.
      • The works with the best score in each category will be considered winners in that region (North, Northeast, Central-West, Southeast and South).
    • National Stage
      • All works classified in the main categories (Text, Audio, Video and Photo) and in the special category of University Journalism, in the Regional Stage, compete for the Sebrae Journalism Award – National.

For more information, visit Sebrae.