Excellence in Journalism Awaards

Review the rules and register your entry here.


Only journalistic pieces actually published during the period between June 1, 2023 and May 31, 2024 in a daily newspaper, weekly, magazine, press agency, online publication or radio and television stations will be considered as contestants. The closing date for receipt of nominations is May 31, 2024.


A jury composed of members of the IAPA Awards Committee will select the winner in each category. The majority of the first prizes in each category will be awarded U$S 2,000 (two thousand U.S. dollars). The award ceremony will be held in October 2024 during the 80th IAPA General Assembly in Cordoba, Argentina.


The IAPA will award the Grand Prize for Press Freedom to an individual or organization with significant achievements in favor of this cause.


To participate it is not necessary to be a member of IAPA; just click here.


The 16 categories of the SIP Excellence in Journalism 2024 Awards are:


- Migration Journalism Claudio Paolillo (sponsored by La Silla Rota, Mexico).

- Cartoon and Illustration (sponsored by El Tiempo, Bogotá, Colombia).

- News coverage of current events (sponsored by Infobae).

- Interview Alejandro Miró Quesada Garland (sponsored by El Comercio, Lima, Peru).

- Chronicle (sponsored by Debate Media, Mexico).

- Solutions Journalism (sponsored by La Prensa, Río Bamba, Ecuador).

- Photography and video (sponsored by La Prensa Gráfica, San Salvador, El Salvador).

- Opinion (sponsored by El Mercurio, Santiago, Chile).

- Data Journalism (sponsored by Grupo de Comunicaciones Corripio, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic).

- In-depth Journalism (sponsored by La República, Lima, Peru).

- Environmental Journalism Roberto Eisenmann Jr. (sponsored by La Prensa, Panama City, Panama).

- College Journalism (sponsored by the Latin American Council for the Accreditation of Education in Journalism and Communication CLAEP).

- Sustainability (sponsored by AFP).

- Digital transformation (sponsored by Clarín, Buenos Aires, Argentina). 

- Executive of the Year

- Great Friend of the Press


CONTESTANT'S GUIDE

IAPA JOURNALISTIC EXCELLENCE CONTEST


1. WHY PARTICIPATE?


Participating in an international journalistic contest has numerous advantages -beyond the gratification of the prize-, since it allows:


- To make a self-evaluation, in quantity and quality, of the work done during the year.


- To compare experiences, approaches, techniques and styles with other colleagues from the same media and from other publications around the world.


- To make known the best of the professional practice.


Submitting a work to the judgment of a Jury involves asking oneself the following questions:


Does my work possess sufficient quality, in form and content, to be measured in an international competition?


Is it sufficiently original, relevant and useful to stand out among more than a thousand journalistic works?


Does it fully comply with the parameters established by the Jury for the chosen category?


If your answers are affirmative, we welcome you to the IAPA's EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM CONTEST.


2. OF THE CATEGORIES

The categories of the contest refer to journalistic genres as well as to themes that have been considered convenient to emphasize. Those referring to genres are of free subject matter. Entries may be submitted in only one category. A contestant may submit entries in up to three categories, but may not submit more than one entry per category.


The following is an explanation of the meaning of each category and the respective parameters established by the Jury.


Press Freedom Grand Prize

Description: It will be awarded to a person or organization with significant achievements in favor of the cause of press freedom and freedom of expression. Any person may nominate or apply for this award. 


Claudio Paolillo Migration Journalism (sponsored by La Silla Rota, Mexico)

Description: Coverage of migration issues including causes and consequences of the flow of people. The Jury will consider works that stand out for their newsworthiness, argumentation, balance, use of sources and complementary material.


Cartoon and Illustration (sponsored by El Tiempo, Bogota, Colombia)

Description: Graphic images on current issues. The Jury will consider works that stand out for their originality, aesthetic and journalistic value, timeliness and power of synthesis.


News coverage of current affairs (sponsored by Infobae)

Description: The category joins the previous ones, Internet News Coverage and News Coverage. It is news coverage of current events, including all types of graphic and audiovisual resources. The Jury will consider works that stand out for their newsworthiness, argumentation, balance, use of sources, complementary material and multimedia.


Interview Alejandro Miró Quesada Garland (sponsored by El Comercio, Lima, Peru)

Description: Dialogue that allows for an in-depth look at the personality and environment of the interviewee and highlights his or her opinions on newsworthy issues. The Jury will consider works that stand out for the relevance of the character, the timeliness of his or her comments and the interviewer's skill in obtaining them.


Chronicle (sponsored by Debate Media, Mexico)
Description: Works in any platform that respect the essential characteristics of the genre: personal implication, temporal sequence, journalistic value and literary writing. The Jury will consider works that stand out for their originality, journalistic value and social impact.

Solutions Journalism (sponsored by La Prensa, Río Bamba, Ecuador).
Description: Works of any journalistic genre focused on actions aimed at empowering and enabling people and communities to take useful actions and decisions. The Jury will consider works that stand out for the novelty of themes and approaches, topicality, social impact and journalistic value. Reporting is an integral part of the solutions approach.
.
Photography and Video (sponsored by La Prensa Gráfica, San Salvador, El Salvador)
Description: Still and moving images on issues of social impact. The Jury will consider those photographic and video reports that stand out for their timeliness, originality, aesthetic and journalistic value.

Opinion (sponsored by El Mercurio, Santiago, Chile)
Description: Opinion columns on issues of social impact. The Jury will consider works that stand out for the strength of their argumentation, timeliness, relevance and style.

Data Journalism (sponsored by Grupo de Comunicaciones Corripio, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
Description: This category joins the previous categories, Data Journalism and Infographics. It is the exhibition of data based on journalistic research, using all possible artistic means. The Jury will consider proposals with aesthetic, journalistic and didactic value that stand out for their combined use of texts, photographs, videos and graphics based on rigorous journalistic research.

In-depth Journalism (sponsored by La República, Lima, Peru) Description: Investigative journalism on issues of social importance. The Jury will consider works that stand out for their use of investigative and analytical techniques, live and documentary sources and field work.

Environmental Journalism Roberto Eisenmann Jr. (sponsored by La Prensa, Panama City, Panama). Description: Coverage of environmental issues that denounce harmful actions or reflect measures for their preservation and care. The Jury will consider works that stand out for their newsworthiness, argumentation, balance, use of sources, complementary material and multimedia, if that is the case.

College Journalism (sponsored by CLAEP)
Description: Report with a free theme that has been published in university media. The Jury will consider works that stand out in the handling of the reportage genre, whose essential characteristics are topicality, varied use of sources and data, photographs, interviews and documents, in which skills learned during the career can be observed.

There is a group of categories, outside of journalistic content, relevant to the sustainability of a media outlet, its adaptability to changes in the field of technology and marketing, the leadership of its executives, as well as institutions that support the mission of the press. These are:

Sustainability (sponsored by the AFP news agency).
Description: original and efficient commercial/financial initiative or strategy that contributes to the sustainability of a media outlet. Nominations: By the media outlet itself or by other media or individuals. 

Digital Transformation (sponsored by Clarín, Buenos Aires, Argentina).
Description: Innovative and/or successful initiative, strategy or project in the areas of subscriptions, digital marketing, sponsored journalism, audience and vertical segmentation, events, sponsored content, micropayments, donations, readers' club, creative campaigns, innovation or transformation culture. Nominations: By partner and non-partner media of any size, circulation or reach.  

Great friend of the press
Description: organization, institution, company or individual that has excelled in supporting the media through sponsorships, loans and/or donations. Nominations: By the organizations or institutions themselves, member and non-member media, as well as IAPA authorities. 

Executive of the Year
Description: Media executive of great impact on his or her company and/or community. Their leadership and vision reflected in the company's performance and influence within the community they serve, whether or not in the field of journalistic content, will be highlighted. Nominations: By the organizations or institutions themselves, member and non-member media, as well as from IAPA authorities. 

 3. RULES AND REGULATIONS:

The contest is usually open for works published between July 1 and June 31 of the current year in print media -daily, weekly or magazine-, digital native media and online publications of radio and television stations. Nominations must be received before July 1.

- Written, radio or television works are accepted on any platform; independently or in series.
- Certain types of works are not accepted, including theses, dissertations, essays, books, magazines with special themes or extraordinary journalistic projects.
- In the case of audiovisual and radio recordings, only works between 10 and 15 minutes in length will be accepted.
- The same work may only be entered in one category, otherwise it will be disqualified.
- It is possible to compete with different works in up to three categories.
- In serial works, only the first and last installment will be accepted, plus three others at the discretion of the contestants. The number of articles in the series must be mentioned.
- Only works that have actually been published during the dates specified in the Call for Papers may be submitted.

4. OF THE FORM

The form is designed to be as simple as possible, so that it can be completed in a minimum of 15 minutes, provided that the requested data and files are located and ready to be uploaded.

- In the case of photography, cartoons or infographics, the work may be sent in any format available for images. The submission must contain, in addition to the image, the page of the newspaper where it was published.
- In the case of videos or audio recordings, the entry must have been published on the station's website. The corresponding link will be placed inside a Word document.
- No information other than that requested on the form will be accepted; amendments are also not acceptable. In case of error or incomplete information, a new form must be completed.
- It is recommended to take into account the "weight" of the documents, which should not exceed 10 MB.
- The contestant must make sure that all links to his or her entries are current, so that the Jury can have free access to them.

5. OF THE MOST FREQUENT ERRORS

GENERAL TYPE: Ignoring the Regulations
OF THE FORM:
1. Incomplete data: authors, name of the publication (of the media outlet)
2. Incorrect category
3. Inaccessible, erroneous, out of date application.
4. Videos and audios
There is no documentary category, although videos with a journalistic approach are admitted. In this case, as in the case of audio recordings, the entry must have been published on the media or station's website. The corresponding link will be placed within a Word document.
A video/audio may not exceed 15 minutes.
5. Contest dates (from June 1 to May 31 of the following year)