Deadline: 20 January 2014
Open to: professional or beginner journalists and editors from any country
Prizes: professional journalists: 3 prizes of 500 EUR; beginner journalists: 3 prizes of 300 EUR

Description

Belarus in Focus is the third edition of a competition for journalists and others writing about Belarus for international media. By holding this competition each year, the organizers wish to encourage journalists and editors to pay attention to ongoing events and trends in Belarus – political, economic, social, and cultural.

By creating a place for exchange and debate, the aim is to contribute to journalistic understanding about Belarus and, consequently, the level of interest among the international public about events taking place in Belarus – a country on the E.U’s eastern border. 

‘Belarus in Focus’ is held by Solidarity with Belarus Information Office (Warsaw) in cooperation with Press Club Belarus and Press Club Polska (Warsaw). Information partners include: Belarusian PEN Centre (Minsk), Civic Belarus (Prague), European Federation of Journalists (Brussels), TeleKritika (Kiev), the Network for Reporting on Eastern Europe (Berlin), Office for a Democratic Belarus (Brussels), and Ostgruppen (Sweden). ’Belarus in Focus’ is kindly supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers and NIRAS.

Eligibility

The competition is open to anyone who has published an article about Belarus for non-Belorussian media in 2013. There are no restrictions on nationality, citizenship, or place of residence. There is no age bracket either. Belorussian nationals are particularly encouraged to enter. The competition is not open to employees of Solidarity for Belarus Information Office or their family members, or anyone else directly connected to the Competition.

In ’Belarus in Focus’, there are two categories:

• Professional journalists: A professional journalist is understood as a journalist who has worked for more than 3 years as a journalist, or other professionals who have published for over 3 years in media.
• Beginner journalists: A beginner journalist is understood as a journalist who has worked for less than 3 years as a journalist, or other professionals/students who have published for less than 3 years in media.

Prizes

The following prizes are available:

• Professional journalists: x 3 prizes of 500 EUR;
• Beginner journalists: x 3 prizes of 300 EUR.

In addition, six participants will be invited to attend a two-day workshop together with journalists from independent Belorussian media. Sessions will be led by media experts, including jury members. It will be held in Warsaw in spring 2014. Travel expenses, food, and accommodation will be covered for those invited to attend the workshop.

Application

The competition is open for entries until midnight on Monday 20 January 2014 (n.b. your article should have been published in 2013).

Articles that fulfill these criteria will be accepted into the competition:

• It is an article about Belarus published online or in print (radio and TV reports will be accepted if they have been published as an accompanying article on a website).
• It has been published between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013.
• It has been published in media outside of Belarus whose main target audience is non-Belorussian.

To enter, fill in the online application form HERE.

Entries will be evaluated by a jury made up of different nationalities and from different backgrounds. You do not need to provide a translation into English if your article is in a language read by at least one jury member. This year, the languages are: Danish, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Polish, and Ukrainian.

If your article is accepted into the second round, it will be translated into English for the other jury members. At the same time, it is strongly recommend that you submit your article in English so that the competition audience may appreciate what you are writing about and so that it may be considered by more than one jury member in the first round.

Winners and finalists will be announced on the competition website and contacted by Monday 17 February 2014. The finalists will be invited to a two-day workshop in spring 2014, in Warsaw. Winners will be awarded at a ceremony to be held during the journalist workshop.

If you have any questions, contact focus@solidarityby.eu.

For further information, please visit the official website HERE.