Deadline: 31-Oct-22

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is launching the eighth edition of its annual Global Media Competition. Its aim is to recognize fair and balanced reports that contribute to the elimination of xenophobia and discrimination against migrant workers.

The competition is open to professional and student journalists and will be judged by a panel of international migration and journalism experts. The winning entries will be selected according to a range of criteria including creativity, accuracy, balance and the positive portrayal of labour migration, including the multidimensional aspects of migrant workers’ lives.

“This competition seeks to identify and award media professionals who are committed to telling the stories of migrant workers and their employers, their living and working conditions in a balanced, informed and fair way. Today, more than ever, they need to let the general public know the reality of those involved and the important contributions migrant workers bring to their societies,” said Michelle Leighton, Chief of the ILO Labour Migration Branch and one of the competition judges.

Objective: The objective of the competition is to recognize exemplary media coverage of labour migration by encouraging professional and student journalists to submit a piece of their work, whether it be in the form of a written article, photo essay, multimedia material, video or radio.

Categories 

• Entries should fall into one of the following two categories:
  • Professional or
  • Student.

Awards & Prizes

• Professional Awards
  • Award categories: three prizes on the topic of labour migration for professionals will be awarded.
  • The prizes will be awarded for published media pieces (including but not limited to written press, photo essay, multimedia, podcast, video, and/or radio) recognizing exemplary reporting on labour migration.
  • Prize: Each of the winners of the professional award for a published media piece will be able to choose between two prize options:
  • Partially-paid fellowship (course fees, up to $ 1,500 US, only for a maximum of two winning co-authors per media piece) to participate in an ITC-Turin course on a fair recruitment or labour migration related topic in 2023; or
  • A cash prize of $1,200 USD.
• Student Award
  • Award categories: one prize will be awarded for a published or unpublished media piece recognizing exemplary reporting on labour migration .
  • Prize: The winner of the student award will be able to choose between two prize options:
  • Partially-paid fellowship (course fees, up to $ 1,500 US, only for a maximum of two winning co-authors per media piece) to participate in an ITC-Turin course on a fair recruitment or labour migration related topic in 2023; or
  • A cash prize of $500 USD.

Eligibility Criteria

• Journalists are invited to submit articles showing exemplary media coverage on labour migration and fair recruitment.
• For the professional awards, this contest is open to media professionals and professional journalists who are 18 years of age and older. For the student award, this contest is open to students from journalism schools/universities who are currently enrolled in a journalism school or university curricula.
• To enter the contest, all participants must fill in the Online Entry Form. No postal submissions or e-mail will be accepted.
• For each entry submitted the author should indicate which type of production is being submitted: written press, photo essay, multimedia, video, radio (referred to as “media pieces”). Published print and online submissions should not exceed 8,000 words, podcast, radio and video submissions should not exceed 25 minutes.
• A maximum of two entries may be submitted by any one participant.
• The ILO reserves the right to extend the duration and closing date of the contest or to cancel the contest if an insufficient number of quality entries are received.
• A submission in any language is welcome. However, an English, French or Spanish translation should be included if parts of the submitted material are in a language other than English, French or Spanish. The translation must be faithful to the original. The English, French or Spanish versions will be the one judged.
• Participants are responsible for the quality and appearance of their submission. The judges will make their decisions based on how it appears on a computer screen. No responsibility can be taken by the organizers for entries that are incorrectly submitted.
• The ILO reserves the right to disqualify any entry that contains hurtful, misleading, libellous or vulgar content, or that contains any material that could constitute or encourage conduct which would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any national or international law or ILO standards.

Judges – Panel Composition and Judgment Criteria

• The ILO in consultation with partner organisations will conduct a preliminary review and screening of the entries, and the top 20-30 entries for the professional category and top 5-10 entries for the student category will be further evaluated by a panel of 4 to 5 judges and the ILO. The decision of the ILO, its partners and judges on all matters relating to the contest is final, and no correspondence will be entered into at any stage.

For more information, visit https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/labour-migration/news-statements/WCMS_855760/lang–en/index.htm