Child brides of China sold for less than the price of a buffalo , once-ostracised transgender candidates now running for Pakistans parliament, Ghanian youths and the alarming rate of drug abuse, and judges soliciting bribes to release detainees from Liberia's prisons. These are among the stories that have made the shortlist for the sixth Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award.
In partnership with the UK Foreign Press Association (FPA), the award enables journalists aged 30 and under, from countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of less than $20,000 (data from the World Bank), to send in their best stories. Their work is then scrutinised by a judging panel at Thomson Foundation and then by independent FPA judges.
A remarkable number of entries arrived from all over the world for this years competition - Burundi to Bulgaria, Ethiopia to Ecuador and the Philippines to Palestine. Each entrant needed to submit a portfolio of three published pieces of work produced in the 12 months preceding the deadline for submissions which was August 17th, 2018.
Thomson Foundation judges pored over the entries and selected the shortlist based on criteria including originality, endeavour, interest to audiences, and the anticipated or actual impact of the story after publication or broadcast.
As with previous years, some of the entrants were further into their respective careers than others, yet they all shared the viewpoint that it's a journalist's job to mainstream marginalised voices and nurture journalism's public interest role in democracy.
Among the shortlist of 12 were young and aspiring journalists speaking up on a variety of matters - corruption or abuses of power among the political elite, social injustices but also social cohesion and bringing people together.
The stories submitted each year provide us with an extraordinary window on the world.
Nigel Baker, chief executive, Thomson Foundation
Vying for the top spot All 12 shortlisted entrants cast a light on important issues or events which otherwise would have gone uncovered. Each of the entrants will receive a certificate from Thomson Foundation commending them on the high standard of their work, and will have the opportunity to participate in the foundation's digital learning platform, Journalism Now.
The shortlist: Kemi Busari, Nigeria Rubatheesan Sandranathan, Sri Lanka Yen Duong Do Bao, Vietnam Dimuthu Attanayake, Sri Lanka Sabrina Toppa, Pakistan Valeriya Egoshyna, Ukraine Alisa Kustikova, Russia Asmaa Shalaby, Egypt Sheikh Saaliq, India Alice Aryeetey, Ghana Asad Pabani, Pakistan Bettie Kemah Johnson-Mayo, Liberia
Independent judges at the FPA will select the three finalists from the 12 entrants on the shortlist - to be revealed in October - who will be vying for the coveted Young Journalist Award on 26th November at the prestigious FPA Awards gala dinner in London.
For more information on how the Young Journalist Award works, please see our competitions section. The competition will reopen in July 2019.
Above image: courtesy of Yen Duong, from her story From Vietnam, Without Love: The Child Brides of China
Related content
-- Play
-- --
Special recognition in 2017 Channel 4 News Jon Snow picks up the Special Recognition Award for Syrian filmmaker, Waad Al Kateab
-- Play
-- --
Young Journalist winner in 2016 30 seconds with Thomson Foundations Young Journalist 2016 winner, Yousra Elbagir from Sudan
-- Play
-- --
Unearthing new talent Young Journalist 2015 finalists attend the Foreign Press Association Awards gala night in London
Sara Loane Communications Manager
About: Sara is responsible for the creation and delivery of engaging and effective messages, campaigns, publications and print and digital design concepts that support and promote the foundation.
We get around. Explore our project map
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
28/10/2025
ESPN Announces Monsters Funday Football', Its Latest Real-Time Animated Bro...
28/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Catherine Chalfant, Manager, Remote Operations, ESPNThe Ole Miss alum is an operational force behind ESPN's extensive college-football catalo...
28/10/2025
Elevating the experience: AI and data take Ryder Cup to the next level By Joe OHalloran
Tuesday, October 28, 2025 - 10:25
Print This Story
NBC produced th...
28/10/2025
Conquering the Air (waves): Taking a close up look at the IBC Accelerator Priva...
28/10/2025
World Series 2025: Spectrum SportsNet LA Brings Dodgers Fans Closer to the Actio...
28/10/2025
Dylan Southern and Benedict Cumberbatch at the premiere of The Thing with Feathers (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
28/10/2025
For three weeks in Lagos, Spotify's Greasy Tunes Caf pop-up brought the cit...
28/10/2025
Once a niche subculture, German rap has evolved into an influential cultural movement. Now, Spotify is giving the genre a new home with OFFCULT, a playlist dedi...
28/10/2025
Shane Delia's Malta serves up the Mediterranean this summer
28 October, 2025
Media releases
Feast on 9,000 years of culinary history Mondays from 24 No...
28/10/2025
SBS's global sporting festival continues with the FIVB Beach Volleyball Worl...
28/10/2025
Bilbao, October 28, 2025 - AgileTV, a leading technology solutions company for t...
28/10/2025
Disney, NBCUniversal, FOX, Paramount Each Achieve Double-Digit Monthly Growth
...
28/10/2025
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has announced an agreement to sell WRTV, its local ABC-affiliated station in Indianapolis, to Circle City Broadcasting for $...
28/10/2025
Berklee College of Music and Berklee Valencia Named to Billboards 2025 Top Music...
28/10/2025
NEW YORK As AI usage continues to spike, a new study from IAB delves into an important aspect of how AI is transforming the advertising business with new data s...
28/10/2025
Charlie Jablonski, a broadcast tech pioneer who helped shape the modern era of Olympics television coverage, died Oct. 25 at his home in Lake George N.Y., the N...
28/10/2025
VIENNA, Austria Bitmovin has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insights into video playback. The so...
28/10/2025
LOS ANGELES LucidLink, the file streaming platform, has announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities at Adobe Max....
28/10/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced that it has joined the Ama...
28/10/2025
Lightware, an industry leader in connectivity and signal management solutions, has announced a major update to its Taurus
platform, which now delivers flawless...
28/10/2025
Following a successful mid-September International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam, Hiltron Communications will promote its full range of satellite communi...
28/10/2025
Open Broadcast Systems has chosen MC&S (Media Consulting & Services) as a reseller to help strengthen its presence in France.
With over twenty years of experi...
28/10/2025
Bitmovin, leading provider of video streaming solutions, has launched Bitmovin Observability, a new stand-alone video data solution that delivers real-time insi...
28/10/2025
Ease Live, the leader in interactive TV technology, today announced the successful launch of interactive graphical overlays for UEFA Champions League matches fo...
28/10/2025
LucidLink, the file streaming platform, today at Adobe MAX announced a Frame.io integration and expanded mobile capabilities, streamlining collaboration and hel...
28/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has promoted Nick Hasenecz to general manager of WNDU, its NBC affiliate in the South Bend-Elkhart, Ind., market....
28/10/2025
Applications Open for Berklee Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant Boston nonprofits can apply by December 12 for funding to support community projects that ...
28/10/2025
28 Oct 2025
VEON's JazzCash Wins Silver Award for Innovation in Lending at ...
28/10/2025
Guests include Wayne Rooney, Maya Jama, Dame Laura Kenny, Chloe Kelly, Chris McC...
28/10/2025
The two-hour special, recorded live from the iconic Dolby Theatre in LA, will ai...
28/10/2025
Eutelsat upgrades teleports with Rohde & Schwarz satellite uplink amplifiers High efficiency and resilient Ku-band amplifiers for excellent RF performance
...
28/10/2025
These appointments come at a pivotal time for ABC, as the organisation continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of a digital-first media ecosystem. The ne...
28/10/2025
Scripps Research awarded $4 million to advance platform for neurodevelopmental disorders The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) grant support...
27/10/2025
You can touch this: Haptics becoming central to the virtual live experience By Adrian Pennington
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 09:12
Print This Story
The vid...
27/10/2025
A tale of two trailers: France's Stop & Go doubles up with its new hybrid tr...
27/10/2025
Pro Padel League Stages City's Cup Finals Inside NYC's Hammerstein Ballr...
27/10/2025
World Series 2025: Sportsnet Delivers Made-in-Canada' Moment for a Nation U...
27/10/2025
ESPN Extends Partnership With Sony's Beyond Sports To Expand Animated Altern...
27/10/2025
Reid Davenport attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Life After at The Ray Theatre on January 27, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by Robin Marsha...
27/10/2025
As the days grow shorter and the nights get darker, there's nothing like getting swept up in a story that sends shivers down your spine. In honor of spooky ...
27/10/2025
UPDATE: Both parties have reached a new carriage agreement....
27/10/2025
LONDON As Hollywood jumps into the production of mini-dramas, a new study from Ampere Analysis finds that more than one in 10 internet users have watched drama ...
27/10/2025
LONDON Yealink, a provider of unified communication and collaboration solutions, has joined the NDI ecosystem with the availability of its SmartVision 80 premiu...
27/10/2025
ATLANTA Gray Media has named Chris Conroy as general manager of its stations in Cleveland, leading WOIO, a CBS affiliate, The CW station WUAB and Telemundo outl...
27/10/2025
ESPOO, Finland European connectivity leaders Nokia and Ericsson, have partnered with Berlin's Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI), to shape and drive ...
27/10/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcast has expanded NOW TV Latino, its Spanish-language live TV and streaming offering, adding five more channels from Univision, ViX Premium with...
27/10/2025
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics, will present its latest products and solutions at InterBEE 2025 (Hall 5, Booth 5218) Makuhari Messe in Chiba, ...
27/10/2025
Back to All News
City of Shadows, the New Netflix Thriller Arrives on December 12
Entertainment
27 October 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Downl...
Child brides of China sold for less than the price of a buffalo , once-ostracised transgender candidates now running for Pakistans parliament, Ghanian youths and the alarming rate of drug abuse, and judges soliciting bribes to release detainees from Liberia's prisons. These are among the stories that have made the shortlist for the sixth Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award.
