PRI launches Investigative International Journalism Competition

The death penalty remains in many parts of the globe, while around the world people are imprisoned for decades at a time. While trials, sentences and executions often make the headlines, other features of the death penalty and life imprisonment are largely unknown.

Penal Reform International is launching a competition for the best journalism investigating the death penalty and life (or long-term) imprisonment. The focus could be on such subjects as individual stories, investigations into prison conditions or wider considerations about the laws and regulations about the death penalty.

As inform NoTorture.Tj Dinara Dildabekova, Project Coordinator of the Penal Reform International office in Central Asia, "we are looking for entries published anywhere in the world between 1 April 2013 and 30 April 2014, in any media format, in Arabic, English or Russia".

Winners will receive an expenses-paid two-day trip to London in October 2014, including a one-day visit to the offices of The Guardian newspaper. There they will be able to see the paper being put together, meet journalists working on relevant issues and receive advice and feedback on their articles. Winning articles will also be published by PRI on its website.

Please submit entries to: info@penalreform.org

Entry conditions

• There are three award categories: entries in Arabic, entries in English, entries in Russian.
• Within these categories there will be no restrictions based on media type or length.
• The competition is global – there are no restrictions based on geographic location.
• Entries must have been previously published or broadcast, between 1 April 2013 and 30 April 2014, in the language in which they are submitted.
• Private or self-published entries (such as blog posts) should be accompanied by evidence that they reach a sufficiently broad audience (500 unique user views or more).
• Entries must relate to the death penalty or alternative sentences to the death penalty.
• The decision of the organisers as to whether an entry meets this criterion is final.
• There will be one winner per category. Other entries that are particularly noteworthy may be recognised as a merit entry and published on the PRI website; however, there is no guarantee that any category will include merit entries.
• Employees of Penal Reform International, Foundation for Human Rights International or Guardian News & Media Ltd, and their family members, are not eligible to enter the competition.

Prize

A paid-for visit to London for two days, including one full-day visit to The Guardian newspaper, provisionally involving:

• A presentation to the winners on the work of The Guardian – newspaper, website, podcasts and other communications channels – to give an oversight of the scale of the global as well as national operations;
• A tour of the relevant offices to introduce the winners to journalists and their colleagues working in the relevant sections;
• Meetings with a number of journalists to share information on how they investigate stories, find reliable evidence/data, get quotes from different sources and provide an independent/balanced story;
• The opportunity to discuss wider issues about the role, contribution and importance of a free press in a democratic society; and the position of The Guardian in this capacity.

Winning entries will be published on the PRI website. Additionally, the winning entries will be reviewed and considered for publication on The Guardian website.

Travel to and from the UK, assistance with visas (if necessary), accommodation in London and (if required) interpretation during the visit to The Guardian will be provided.

Timescale

Resources

PRI has produced a training resource on ‘Reporting on the death penalty’, which is available in English, Arabic, Russian and French here.