Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting 2024 – Call for Application

The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism is calling for applications for the 18th edition of Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting. 

Application Deadline: 24th October, 2023 by 4pm

Eligible Countries: Nigeria

To be taken at (country): Nigeria

About the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting: The award, which is an annual programme of WSCIJ, seeks to honour journalism works with focus on public and or corporate corruption, human rights abuses, or failure of regulatory agencies, published or aired between 4th October 2022 and 3rd October 2023.

This year, applicants for the Television, Radio and Online categories of the award can put in their entries through an online application process. The other three categories requiring hard copy submission given the nature of entry processing, are the Print, Photography and Editorial cartoon.

Received entries will be collated using the award coding system and assessed by a panel of media experts and related professionals with good understanding of investigative reporting. The judges’ board would broadly score submitted stories based on quality of investigation, evidence, human rights elements, ethical reportage, courage, individual creativity, public interest, impact and quality of presentation.

Eligible Fields: 

• Print
• Radio
• Television
• Photography
• Online
• Editorial Cartoon

Type: Contest

Eligibility and Selection Criteria: The main criterion for eligibility is that the work (single work or single-subject serial) must involve reporting on public, and or corporate corruption, human rights violation, or on the failure of regulatory agencies. The story should reflect a high quality of investigation in terms of newsworthiness, capacity to expose or prevent clandestine activities, corruption in the public domain, an understanding of human rights implications enhanced by the quality of presentation. Such works should have been first published or broadcast in a Nigerian media between 4th October 2022 and 3rd October 2023.

An applicant may only submit a maximum of a total of two entries.

Print Entries – Newspaper and Magazine

• Entrants are required to send the original and a CLEAN Photocopy

Broadcast Entries – Radio and Television

• Transcripts should be written in English language
• Audio entries should be sent in audio CD format, with accompanying script while video entries must be on CD, with accompanying script.
• 2 copies of each entry is required

Photographic Entries

• In addition to the broad criteria, photo entries will be scored on creativity, impact and technical quality.
• Each entry must be well captioned in English
• It must come with the original photo, a copy of the published work with a clean photocopy of the latter and a CD with the picture(s)

Online Entries

• Clearly indicated URL (web link) for the published work is required as printouts are unacceptable.
• Entry should be sent online to entries@wscij.org

Editorial Cartooning

• In addition to the broad criteria, editorial cartooning will also be scored on impact, creativity and originality.
• An original copy of the published work with clean photocopy are required

Generally

• Entry is free.
• Only a maximum of two entries across all categories of the award will be allowed per entrant.
• All submitted works must be in English Language.
• The reporter with the most outstanding work(s) amongst the finalists will be selected as the WSCIJ-Nigerian Investigative Reporter of the year.
• Entering for this competition commits you to grant WSCIJ a worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free licence to use your works for any purpose deemed appropriate for the development of the award initiative, the Centre and the Nigerian and global media.
• To enhance the development of media in the country, reporters that have been winners in this competition on at least three occasions are ineligible to enter.
• Employees of the WSCIJ and/or their immediate families are ineligible to participate in the competition.
• WSCIJ guarantees that there is no connection between any sponsor and the judging process despite possible sponsorship of some categories of the award.
• The competition shall be covered and interpreted with the laws of Nigeria.

Selection: All entries will be collated using the entry coding system and judged by a panel of experts from the media and related professions who are keen on investigative journalism. Judges would score stories based on ethical reporting, courage, individual creativity and public interest slant.

How to Apply for Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting: The submitted package should include:

• A brief synopsis of the story/series, picture, or portfolio.

In the synopsis,  the applicant is expected to:

• Explain the background of the project, identifying the issues and key players.
• Describe what led to the topic or caption, any unusual condition faced in developing the project and whether the investigation had any ramifications.
• Describe challenges to the content of the story/series that were not reported in the original work.
• Include up-to-date curriculum vitae for every reporter who bears the byline of the story with passport photograph(s).
• Include any relevant background information on submitted work(s).

Kindly send entries to:

The Centre Coordinator,
18A, Abiodun Sobanjo Street, Off Lateef Jakande Road,
Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.

Online entries must however, be sent via email to entries@wscij.org

Visit Contest Webpage for details

Important Notes: 

• Synopsis should be in English and a maximum of 400 words
• All submissions (apart from the online entry where submission is to be made by email) should be in hard copy for all categories.