Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Meet the new generation of journalists making a mark

16/10/2021

It's one of those points in the annual media calendar that early-career journalists await on the edge of their seats - and the moment has arrived.

We can now announce the shortlist for this year's Young Journalist Award - and what an exciting bunch this group is. As we navigate major global challenges from the pandemic to the climate emergency, the shortlist is a reminder of the powerful contribution journalists can make.

Supported by the UK's Foreign Press Association (FPA), Thomson Foundation has been searching for talent from around the world since 2013 and its Young Journalist Award enjoys a reputation as the premier prize for up-and-coming journalists from emerging economies.

Championing the woman leading the fight against climate change in El Salvador, documenting the dark and unsettling realities of child marriage in India and highlighting the transgender community being shut out of Malaysia's healthcare system are some of the stories told by the 10 talented journalists shortlisted for this year's award.

The Young Journalist Award enjoys a reputation as the premier prize for up-and-coming journalists.

The 10 have been selected by the foundation's judging panel, Helen Scott, Deborah Kelly and Hosam El Nagar, from nearly 200 entries from 55 countries. After the next rounds of judging, the winner will be announced on 29th November at the FPA Awards ceremony in London, which will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page.

For now, scroll down to meet the candidates, discover why the judges were drawn to each of them and decide on your favourite.

Illustration by Mahima Jain for her piece, No One Knows About Me. India's Left-Behind' Women

Carmen Valeria Escobar Castillo, El Salvador The judges particularly liked the story of environmental campaigner, Sonia Sanchez, whose fight illustrated the real problems in El Salvador. The piece was well written and structured and took the reader to the heart of the issues. Carmens other stories were about the textile workers turning a warehouse into a feminist space and the chilling case of the murdered and the missing Lima family.

Parth Nikhil, India Parth's stories revealed the devastating personal and financial consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic in rural India and the judges were impressed by his investigation into child brides being married off as young as 12 to save families' money. His third story was about how the climate crisis is hurting farmers.

Samad Uthman, Nigeria One of Samad's pieces featured a timely story on a drug trial that went wrong 24 years previously. He caught up with the uncompensated victims and pieced together what had gone wrong in a meticulous investigation. Samads other stories were about the retirees being denied their pensions and the underserved communities drinking from dirty streams.

Shrouk Ghonim, Egypt Judges praised the brave and moving film from Shrouk about a transgender teacher's fight to be accepted; her approach to the Covid-19 story, by profiling the experiences of eight health workers living in fear but doing their duty, was similarly impressive. Her third story was about a major campaign to clean up the Nile.

Daniel Lutaaya, Uganda Daniel went undercover to expose child trafficking in rural villages. His investigation into the Ugandan private health system exposed a series of shortcomings and exploitations of patients and families desperate for care during the Covid-19 pandemic. Another of his stories documented the rate of human encroachment on Lake Victoria.

Kai Hui Wong, Malaysia Kai investigated corruption and environmental mismanagement in a waste disposal business, as well as trans-rights in Malaysian hospitals, showing a range of skills. She also documented the controversial mining operations linked to Pahang royalty.

Tatiana Pardo Ibarra, Colombia Judges praised Tatiana's investigation on a trio of stories; the illegal raising of beef cattle in protected areas, the sale of illegal shark fins and how indigenous people are at the mercy of gangs. All thorough and well written.

Md. Ibrahim Khalilullah, Bangladesh Ibrahim put himself in the picture in his video investigation into the lack of public toilet facilities in Dhaka (transcriptions available here). The judges liked his approach and felt the story was fresh and original. His other two stories were about the pure water crisis and water ATM booths.

Mahima Jain, India Mahima reported on the women left behind with no land rights by migrant husbands. It was thoroughly researched, a very human story and well presented. Her investigation into domestic violence worsening during the Covid-19 pandemic was similarly impressive. Mahima also presented a podcast episode about Indias farm laws and the threats to biodiversity as part of her portfolio of work.

Zuha Siddiqui, Pakistan Zuha's trio of stories - a trans TikTok star trading the sidelines for the spotlight, an investigation into a fake vaccine programme by the CIA during the hunt for Bin Laden which has led to vaccine hesitancy, and a look at new biodiverse farming methods - show great range and flair.

What happens next?

Congratulations to our 10 shortlisted entrants. It's now over to independent judges selected by the FPA - Inigo Gurruchaga of El Correo in Spain; Niaz Alam of Dhaka Tribune in Bangladesh; and Tinne Hjersing Knudsen of DR Nyheder in Denmark - to select three finalists to go through to the final round of judging.

The chosen three will be profiled on our website at the beginning of November and receive learning bursaries to the value of £1,000 each.

#TFYoungJournalist

We are all affected by environmental issues and commend the shortlisted journalists who took the environmental theme in various directions.

And there are other names to note

This year, our Young Journalist Award took aim at the
LINK: http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/latest/meet-the-new-generation-of-jou...
See more stories from thompsonfoundation

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

30/04/2026

PWHL Reports Record Growth in Third Regular Season as Playoffs Begin April 30

The Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) concluded its third regular season on Saturday, reporting growth across attendance, viewership, digital engage...

30/04/2026

NBC Sports Launches National Sunday MLB Coverage Beginning May 3

NBC Sports will air national MLB coverage on Sundays beginning May 3, with MLB Sunday Leadoff on Peacock and NBCSN at 12:30 p.m. ET, followed by the debut of th...

30/04/2026

Clear-Com Appoints Brian Grahn and Ben Turnwell to New Roles

Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live. Grahn joined Cle...

30/04/2026

ARRI Introduces cforce MAX Lens Motor for Hi-5 Lens Control System

ARRI has introduced the cforce MAX, a new lens motor for the Hi-5 lens control system. The cforce MAX is twice as fast as the cforce plus motor it replaces whil...

30/04/2026

Knuerr, Voxtronic, and IHSE to Present Integrated Control Room Solution at Airspace World

Knuerr, Voxtronic, and IHSE will jointly present an integrated control room solu...

30/04/2026

The CW Network and ESPN to Stream CW Sports Live Events on ESPN App

The CW Network and ESPN have announced an agreement to make the ESPN App the exclusive streaming home for all CW Sports live events. CW Sports will continue to ...

30/04/2026

Sennheiser Spectera Deployed on Ed Sheerans The Loop Global Stadium Tour

Ed Sheeran's The Loop' tour launched in Auckland in January 2026 before moving on to Australia, with South America and the United States to follow late...

30/04/2026

Audinate Launches Dante Preset Creator for Offline Network Configuration

Audinate has announced Dante Preset Creator, a free online tool for configuring Dante network settings before hardware is available on site. Presets created in ...

30/04/2026

Yahoo Sports Appoints Jarrod Schwarz as General Manager

Yahoo Sports has announced the appointment of Jarrod Schwarz as General Manager of Yahoo Sports. Schwarz will oversee product, design, and technology; revenue a...

30/04/2026

Nielsen: U.S. Viewers Spent 79.8 Billion Minutes Watching Soccer in 2025

Nielsen has released a new report, Get Ready with Media Intelligence: 2026 FIFA World Cup Edition, examining U.S. soccer viewership trends, fan engagement, and ...

30/04/2026

USA Lacrosse Names SportsEngine Preferred Youth Sports Management Platform Partner

USA Lacrosse and SportsEngine have announced an expanded partnership, naming Spo...

30/04/2026

Telos Alliance To Appear at MPTS 2026 Across Multiple Partner Booths

Telos Alliance will participate in the 2026 Media Production and Technology Show (MPTS), taking place May 13-14 at Olympia London. Rather than exhibiting from a...

30/04/2026

DAZN Bolsters U.S. Ambitions With ViewLift Acquisition, Targets Evolving Regional Sports Landscape

The global streamer buys the U.S. DTC platform solutions provider for a reported...

30/04/2026

Tigo Sports Upgrades Video Infrastructure with Ateme Technology

Tigo Sports, Paraguay's leading sports broadcaster, has upgraded its video infrastructure with Ateme solutions for live encoding, multiplexing, and signal c...

30/04/2026

World Rugby and IMG Announce Long-Term Media Rights Partnership

World Rugby and IMG have announced a long-term media rights partnership focused on growing rugby in the United States ahead of the Men's and Women's Rug...

30/04/2026

NWSL & Overtime Re-Up Gen-Z Focused Content Partnership

For the second year in a row, Overtime and the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) are teaming up through a renewed content partnership to bring fans even...

30/04/2026

ESPN Executive Vice President David Roberts Set To Retire

The 22-year ESPN vet's responsibilities will reportedly be taken over by SVP Mike Foss...

30/04/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 13: Anaheim Ducks' Scott Fausneaucht - Skating with the Ducks of Orange County

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

30/04/2026

Prime Video Announces Multiyear Agreement with Duke Mens Basketball

Amazon and Duke University have announced a multiyear agreement for Prime Video to present exclusive coverage of three Duke Blue Devils men's basketball neu...

30/04/2026

Ratings Roundup: NBA Playoffs Return to NBC Sports up 38%; UFL Viewership up Midway Through Regular Season

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...

30/04/2026

Introducing Verified by Spotify, a Signal of Authenticity and Trust for the Artists Behind the Music

Music is evolving, and so are the ways you discover and connect with artists. In...

30/04/2026

First-Ever Stockholm Music Week Celebrates the Industry's Present and Future

Between April 22-29, the first inaugural Stockholm Music Week brought together thought leaders and partners across industries including music, tech, government,...

30/04/2026

API launch the Vision+ console

Iconic large-format console upgraded API's iconic Vision console has just been treated to an overhaul that aims to meet the demands of today's profe...

30/04/2026

Lewitt introduce the LCT 440 Pure stereo pair

Comes complete with miking accessories The LCT 440 Pure has proven to be a popular member of Lewitt's mic line-up, offering impressive technical perform...

30/04/2026

SynthFest UK 2026 Announced

24 October 2026 at The Octagon, Sheffield Now in its eighth year, SynthFest UK is the largest event of its kind in the UK, bringing together the top keyboar...

30/04/2026

SBS & NITV LEAD NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK 2026 WITH LANDMARK GULPILIL DOCUMENTARY

SBS & NITV LEAD NATIONAL RECONCILIATION WEEK 2026 WITH LANDMARK GULPILIL DOCUMEN...

30/04/2026

Rohde & Schwarz equips new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport with security scanners

Rohde & Schwarz equips new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport with security scanner...

30/04/2026

Jennifer Ehle and Alex Hassell join the cast of ITV's propulsive lunar thriller First Woman

Jennifer Ehle (Contagion, Zero Dark Thirty) and Alex Hassell (Rivals, Wasteman, ...

30/04/2026

L3Harris Technologies Reports Strong First Quarter 2026 Results

MELBOURNE, Fla., April 30, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) reports first quarter 2026 results. Highlights Orders of $7.8 billion; book-to-bill of 1....

30/04/2026

Golf Craft Interview: A1s Florian Brown and James Deason

Behind the Broadcast: The Sound of Elite Golf Golf is gaining popularity; the 2025 Ryder Cup achieved record-breaking viewing figures in the UK specifically, wi...

30/04/2026

CPI Media Leverages QuickLink StudioCall for Integrating...

STA VENERA, MALTA, APRIL 29, 2026 CPI Media, a voluntary organization within the Missionary Society of St Paul (MSSP) and a leading media house dedicated to p...

30/04/2026

Hitomi Broadcast Presents UK Debut of MatchBox Panorama a...

New software platform delivers comprehensive timing measurement across production workflows...

30/04/2026

Cutting edge British innovation leads at BroadcastAsia 20...

Once again, the UK Pavilion in Hall 5 of BroadcastAsia 2026 will feature the latest and best in technology specifically developed and tailored for modern media ...

30/04/2026

Avid powers faster workflows and next-generation immersive audio with latest Pro Tools release

Avid powers faster workflows and next-generation immersive audio with latest Pro...

30/04/2026

Ocean Blue Software Launches ATSC 3.0 Inspector for Smart TVs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/04/2026

Digital Azul positions Lisbon as a remote production hub...

Scalable broadcast-grade production over public internet, replacing traditional OB workflows...

30/04/2026

V Nova Brings DTV Deployment LCEVC Ecosystem Progress and...

Live demonstrations highlight LCEVC ecosystem momentum, AI-powered video pipelines, and expansion across broadcast, streaming, and social media. DTV (TV 3.0) ...

30/04/2026

Student Spotlight: Matthew Leon

Student Spotlight: Matthew Leon The dual major shares his path from community college to Berklee, and how his heritage influences his work. April 29, 2026 B...

30/04/2026

Berklee Artists to Perform at Major Global Music Festivals

Berklee Artists to Perform at Major Global Music Festivals As part of the Berklee Popular Music Institute, students will perform at Lollapalooza, Governors Ba...

30/04/2026

Study: Rokus Low-Cost, Ad-Free Howdy Streamer Hits 1 Million Subs

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/04/2026

MLS Innovation Lab Selects AI Partners

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/04/2026

NRB Files FCC Complaint Over Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Monologue

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...