Nominations open for True Story Award

The True Story Award will be conferred by an independent foundation and honors reporters writing in 10 languages, who have distinguished themselves by the depth of their research, the quality of their journalism and its social relevance.

Purpose

• The True Story Foundation, based in Bern, Switzerland, supports long form journalism with non-fictional content.
• The True Story Foundation organizes the True Story Award.
• The True Story Foundation may develop other activities aiming to promote independent and high-quality journalism worldwide.
• The True Story Foundation does not seek profit and has a purely humanitarian character and does not pursue any commercial purposes. It is tax-exempt for residents of Switzerland.
• The organs of the Foundation are the Board of Trustees and the Auditors.
• The Board of Trustees entrusts the administration of the True Story Award to a curator.

Categories

• Der True Story Award is presented in these three categories:
  • True Story Award Research: This award recognizes the high quality of journalistic research. The volume of research, the time invested and the country-specific circumstances are taken into account.
  • True Story Award Storytelling: This award recognizes reporters writing talent. The journalistic craft, truthfulness and narrative elegance are taken into account.
  • True Story Award Impact: This award recognizes the impact of reportage. The country-specific relevance of the text and its possible influence on society, politics and economy are taken into account.

Award Information

• The underlying core of the award is the gathering of journalists from all over the world and the exchange with audience in Bern. The 36 nominees selected by the local Jurys (one person per nominated text) will be invited to present their work at the True Story Festival from June 20 to 22, 2025.
• The main jury will then select the three best texts from the 36 nominees, who will be rewarded as follows:
  • True Story Award Research: 20 000 US$.
  • True Story Award Storytelling: 20 000 US$.
  • True Story Award Impact: 20 000 US$.
• The award ceremony will be held as part of a festival on Friday, June 20, 2025, in Bern, Switzerland.

Eligibility Criteria 

• The True Story Award is open to all journalists anywhere in the world who produce written reportage. Works can be submitted in the following 10 languages:
  • Arabic
  • Chinese
  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Persian
  • Portuguese
  • Russian
  • Spanish
• Works written in other languages can be submitted in three categories:
  • Europe
  • World I
  • World II
• Texts in these categories can be entered in English (World II also in Hindi) and go directly to the jury.
• Submissions in the original language must include a summary in English of at least 400 words. In this case, native-speaking readers from our network will review the original text and decide on a translation into English for evaluation by the jury.

For more information, visit The True Story Foundation.