The Kurt Schork Memorial Fund (KSMF) is now accepting submissions for its 2022 Awards in International Journalism. The awards honor excellence in courageous reporting of conflict, corruption, human rights transgressions and other related issues.
The only international recognition of their type for print journalists, the awards are split into three categories –
- Freelance Award – recognising journalists who travel to the world’s conflict zones, usually at great personal risk, to witness and report on the impact and consequences of these events.
- Local Reporter Award – recognising the often-overlooked work of journalists in developing nations (or countries in transition) who write about events in their homeland.
- News Fixer Award – recognising local journalists and/or experts hired by a visiting foreign reporter or news organization, whose guidance and local knowledge materially benefited the content, impact and reach of the stories submitted.
KSMF invites freelance journalists, local reporters and fixers from all over the world to enter the 21 annual awards, established in 2002 in memory of American freelance journalist Kurt Schork who was killed in 2000 while on assignment for Reuters in Sierra Leone.
Last year’s winners were Iranian American journalist Jason Motlagh (freelance category), Brazilian journalist Rafael Soares (local reporter category) and Khabat Abbas from Syria (news fixer category).
The Kurt Schork Awards continue to highlight the particular difficulties faced by freelance journalists, local reporters and fixers, as well as their courageous reporting. The News Fixer Award, launched in 2016 and presented for the first time in 2017, seeks to highlight the work of some of the unsung heroes of modern journalism.
The three winners – each of whom will receive a cash prize of $5,000 (approximately Rs 3.7 Lakh) – will be announced towards the end of this year, alongside an associated event. Entrants must submit three articles each – published between 01 June 2021 – 31 May 2022. Judges will look for journalistic excellence in applicants’ submissions and evidence of determination and courage in obtaining their stories. The deadline for entries is midnight (GMT) on Tuesday, 31 May.
