Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Fresh perspectives: Young Journalist Award 2022

01/07/2022

Thomson Foundation is celebrating 60 years of promoting excellence in journalism and to mark the occasion, we're offering six rising stars the chance to connect with six of the best journalists in the industry as part of our prestigious Young Journalist Award 2022.

This year's award will be extra special for another reason, too. It will be the first time in two years that our three finalists will be able to attend the glittering ceremony in London in person. The pandemic of the past two years has meant finalists could only attend virtually.

For our 60th anniversary, there's an added bonus which we're calling Connect 6'. To mark six decades of the foundation, our three finalists as well as the next three highest in our shortlist will have the opportunity to be mentored for six months by six established journalists from our alumni.

Entry form here.

For our 60th anniversary, there's an added bonus which we're calling Connect Six'.

Entries are now open for the Young Journalist Award. It has given a boost to some brilliant journalists over the years, each one of them demonstrating a rich tapestry of investigative journalism, exposing social issues and holding power to account.

Previous winners of the prize include Sudanese journalist Yousra Elbagir, now Africa correspondent for Sky News, Oscar-nominated and BAFTA award-winning documentary maker, Waad Al Kateab from Syria, and Peruvian journalist, Martin Leandro Camacho who has received a series of accolades since winning in 2020.

The three Young Journalist Award finalists will automatically qualify for the mentorship programme. The additional three will be selected from the shortlist of 12 to join them as part of our ongoing investment into ethical, independent and trusted journalism. If you are one of the selected six, you'll be provided with a unique package of support and paired with an established journalist matched to your region from our extensive alumni network. You'll learn from them how their exclusives and investigations have changed the world, and how yours can too.

In addition, all 12 journalists in the shortlist will be given space on our website and social media channels and receive a certificate from Thomson Foundation commending them on the high standard of their work.

Loyal supporters of the foundation will already know how the award works, but heres the lowdown for newcomers.

How it works Now in its 10th year, the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award in partnership with the UK Foreign Press Association (FPA) is open to journalists aged 30 or under from countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of less than $20,000. Those who meet the criteria are welcome to submit a portfolio of three published pieces of work produced in the 12 months preceding the deadline for submissions, which is 12 August, 2022. They can be in any medium - print, audio, video or multimedia.

A panel of Thomson Foundation judges will tackle the substantial task of scouring through hundreds of entries, for stories that are revelatory, prompt public debate and have led to, or have the potential to lead to, positive change in society.

We draw up the shortlist of 12 then leave the final decisions to our international supreme court. Last year, we welcomed three independent FPA judges from Spain, Denmark and Bangladesh. This year's external judges are Michael Crick, a British journalist for more than 30 years, who was also founding member of Channel 4 News, Stryker McGuire, former senior editor at Bloomberg Markets, and Megha Mohan, the BBC's first gender and identity correspondent.

The chair of the FPA judges will be Alessandro Allocca, a freelance journalist working for the Italian daily newspaper, La Repubblica.

Key dates Deadline for entries: 12 August 2022

Entries must be submitted by 23:59 UK time on the night of deadline day

Long shortlist of 12 announcement: 28 September 2022, World News Day

Shortlist of six announcement: w/c 3 October 2022

Three finalists announcement: w/c 10 October 2022

Young Journalist Award winner announcement: 28 November 2022, FPA Awards

We look forward to seeing this year's submissions for the Young Journalist Award. Good luck to all those entering.

How to apply The entry form can be found here.

Visit our dedicated competition page to see our previous winners, find out what the judges are looking for and how you can impress them. For enquiries relating to your submission which are not answered here or in the entry form, email: awardfpa@thomsonfoundation.org

#TFYoungJournalist

Kind words Winning the award remains the pinnacle of many careers. Here, some of our previous winners explain how the victory positively impacted their journalism and why others should enter.

I recommend journalists under 30 apply for this incredible opportunity. It opened so many doors for me. A huge thank you to Thomson Foundation for empowering local journalists - Yousra Elbagir, Sudan, 2016 Young Journalist Award winner

I was very honoured to receive this award. But it's not just about the award, but the relationship and support received from the foundation after the award. It gave me a lot of confidence and hope that we, as new voices around the world, are heard - Waad Al Kateab, 2017 Young Journalist Award (special recognition) winner

The award has made me believe that everything is possible. Now sometimes I dream of winning a Pulitzer. I have become more disciplined in my work, I have more confidence in my pen and it's encouraging to know that peripheral issues often ignored can garner worldwide media relevance and perhaps achieve a flash of justice - Martin Leandro Camacho, 2020 Young Journalist Award winner

Related content

Persistence pays off

Meet our 2021 Young Journalist winner, Kai Hui Wong from Malaysia

Doing the groundwor
LINK: http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/latest/fresh-perspectives-young-journ...
See more stories from thompsonfoundation

More from Thomson

24/11/2023

In the news - media insights for Young Journalist finalists

The three finalists for the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year 2023 enjoyed an action-packed trip to London which included meeting the Queen, visit...

21/11/2023

Yara El Murr wins Young Journalist Award 2023

Yara El Murr from Lebanon is Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist of the Year 2023. Yara received the honour at the Foreign Press Association Media Award...

17/11/2023

Yashraj Sharma: The 2022 YJA winner on a year of opportunity

Yashraj Sharma has seen big changes in his life since he won the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award in 2022. In the run up to the 2023 winner being anno...

10/11/2023

Paris Charter on AI and Journalism unveiled

Thomson Foundation has joined 16 partner organisations to launch the Paris Charter on AI and Journalism'. The first of its kind, the charter defines crucia...

01/11/2023

Zuha Siddiqui, Young Journalist Award finalist 2023

Zuha Siddiqui from Pakistan is a labour and tech reporting fellow for the global non-profit publication Rest of World. She's one of three finalists nominate...

01/11/2023

Jamaima Afridi, Young Journalist Award finalist 2023

Jamaima Afridi is a freelance journalist based in north-west Pakistan on the edge of the Khyber Pass. Her stories focus on injustices faced by women and vulne...

01/11/2023

Yara El Murr, Young Journalist Award finalist 2023

Yara El Murr is a 25-year-old journalist and documentary filmmaker from Lebanon. She is a finalist in Thomson Foundations Young Journalist Award 2023. The awar...

01/11/2023

Announcing the 2023 Young Journalist Award finalists

Young journalists from more than 60 countries entered this years prestigious Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award 2023. Countries from across Africa, Asia...

26/10/2023

Investigative journalism exposes new scandals

The 2023 EU Award for Investigative Journalism has proven to be an exceptional showcase of talent, diversity and shifting journalistic priorities. More than 20...

16/10/2023

Thomson Foundation announces new trustees

Thomson Foundation is delighted to announce the appointment of two new members to its Board of Trustees - investment expert, author and former financial journal...

12/10/2023

Unique training courses to help create the definitive account of the Ukraine War

Some of the world's leading foreign correspondents and war crimes investigators have contributed to a set of major new training courses for journalists cove...

05/10/2023

Thomson joins Partnership on AI

Thomson Foundation is delighted to be one of five new organisations to join Partnership on AI. Thomson is now one of 114 partner organisations from around the ...

28/09/2023

Shortlist for Young Journalist Award 2023 revealed

An astonishing array of talented journalists from around the world have made it through to the shortlist for the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award 2023....

18/09/2023

Thomson Talks: Former Google director to lead Thomson Foundation Thought Leadership events.

Madhav Chinnappa, the former Director of News Ecosystem Development at Google an...

14/09/2023

Strengthening the media s role in promoting democracy

Thomson works with journalists in some of the toughest places in the world. Their work and livelihoods are frequently under threat. Thomson Foundation believes ...

05/09/2023

Disarming disinformation: piloting new proof technology

A pioneering system aimed at preventing the spread of disinformation and creating verifiable content from capture to publication is being road tested in a serie...

15/08/2023

Connect 6: The magic of mentoring

To mark the Thomson Foundation's 60th year of nurturing and training journalists globally, we matched six talented young journalists with six of the best in...

07/08/2023

Backing brave journalism in challenging places long-term

In the autumn of 2022, I was introduced to a young Afghan journalist in London. Zahra Joya had fled Kabul a year before as the Taliban swept through the city. A...

27/07/2023

Award winning inspiration from young journalists

Pursuing independent journalism is more important than ever. Right now, we are not just facing one or two crises. The crises that journalists are facing are not...

05/07/2023

From trainee to trainer: The man who brought Mojo to Sri Lanka

KC Saranga has trained more than 1,000 journalists, students and people in marginalised communities in Sri Lanka on how to tell stories using their mobile phone...

04/07/2023

Top quality entries for EU Investigative Journalism Award

A total of 267 applications from 7 countries, representing 125 media outlets and featuring a diverse group of authors (both individuals and groups), have been s...

03/07/2023

Young Journalist Award 2023 is open for entries

Since 2013 our Young Journalist Award has celebrated the outstanding young talent in the media profession. The award is an opportunity for those brilliant young...

28/06/2023

Transforming cultural journalism in the Western Balkans

A new project is underway in the Western Balkans to transform digital storytelling and engage public audiences with creative and culture-related content. Aroun...

19/06/2023

Reaching the million+ Ukrainian refugees in Germany

Staying informed about everyday life and events in Ukraine is crucially important for the refugees who have fled the war. By April 2023, 1.06 million Ukrai...

14/06/2023

Rwandan journalists awarded funds to support investigations

Equipped with new investigative journalism skills and financial support after recently completing a training programme, 15 Rwandan journalists are empowered to ...

22/05/2023

Unveiling a seminal course on AI ethics in the newsroom

The Thomson Foundation is proud to unveil a pioneering free, online training course designed to help newsrooms address a defining issue of the modern age: the e...

12/05/2023

60 years: Our alumni s stories

Sixty years after it was founded Thomson Foundation - now joined by the Berlin based Thomson Media, continues to innovate. Its blended approach to life-long lea...

09/05/2023

Investigative journalism competition Western Balkans and Trkiye

Journalists from Western Balkans countries and T rkiye are invited to submit their investigative stories for the EU Award for Investigative Journalism 2023. On...

06/05/2023

Media under siege: how journalists are being silenced.

The onslaught of false news against real news is unprecedented. In the Middle East, an alarming trend of people doubting published news is overwhelming, Mohamm...

04/05/2023

Why Moldova is ahead of Romania in Media freedom

This article is written by Vitalie Cojocari, a journalist and broadcaster with Euronews in Romania. He is a mentor for the Thomson Media project EU support for ...

26/04/2023

Connect 6: The power of mentoring

Three months after Thomson Foundation offered six young journalists a once-in-a-lifetime chance', its world-class mentoring programme Connect 6' is re...

25/04/2023

Let's hear it for audio

Despite reports to the contrary, radio isn't dead. In fact, not only has it been revived but its combined with its close cousins, the podcast and the long r...

25/03/2023

Finding their voice - the women bringing parity to Pakistan's media

To increase women's participation; these four words, written down in four seconds, in a proposal can take months, if not years to achieve. Especially, wh...

24/03/2023

Rwanda: developing a course for investigative journalists in Rwanda.

When I started out as an investigative journalist, there were few practising journalists in Kenya to learn from or manuals that I could read to sharpen my skill...

23/03/2023

Journalift: Access all languages

Journalists in the Western Balkans have been given access to free resources and training in their own languages thanks to a unique platform launched by Thomson ...

22/03/2023

Ukraine: collaboration in time of war

One million refugees have been welcomed into Germany since the Russian invasion who aside from being far from home have lost contact with their community and in...

21/03/2023

Building the Resilience and Relevance of independent media

Millions of people in Tajikistan have read, watched and listened to an extraordinary social media campaign which has clearly shown the population's hunger f...

08/03/2023

Valley Voices: Accessing women s voices

It's August in Pakistan and much of the country is underwater. Catastrophic flooding has killed hundreds, left millions homeless and destroyed infrastructur...

15/02/2023

She Leads Media: Bettina Fellowship scales up at Africa Media Festival

A strong, fearless and effective media, where talent is recognised and rewarded regardless of gender. That's the goal of She Leads Media: Bettina Fellowshi...

07/02/2023

Bad news for false news: how we re countering misinformation in Sudan

Our pioneering WhatsApp course is leading the way in training journalists and citizens to spot misinformation and disinformation in Sudan - a country targeted b...

03/02/2023

Valley Voices: Empowering women in rural Pakistan

The finale of the third Valley Voices project saw women journalists and writers gain confidence in writing about some of the more controversial topics facing wo...

23/01/2023

Connect 6: Thomson Foundation launches mentor programme

Take six of the brightest young journalists and connect them to six of the best in the industry and you have the recipe for Connect 6', a new, world-class ...

10/01/2023

Unique new course on the art of writing news analysis

You're a journalist and news breaks that Pele, arguably the greatest footballer the world has ever known, has died. A colleague in your newsroom is assigned...

14/12/2022

A mobile masterclass for South African award winners

Two former winners of the Vodacom Young Journalist of the Year award in South Africa have finally been treated to their prize of an all-expenses paid trip to Lo...

08/12/2022

Why female journalists in Pakistan don t like coffee

Sabin Agha is a Pakistan-based documentary filmmaker, multimedia journalist and a blogger. She has been teaching women journalists at Tribal News Network (TNN)...

29/11/2022

Yashraj Sharma, Young Journalist Award 2022 Winner

Yashraj Sharma is the interim editor of the online news portal of The Kashmir Walla. He is the winner of the Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 202...

25/11/2022

Yashraj Sharma, Young Journalist Award 2022 Finalist

Yashraj Sharma is the interim editor of the online news portal of The Kashmir Walla. He is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2022. ...

24/11/2022

Jyoti Yadav, Young Journalist Award 2022 Finalist

Jyoti Yadav is a journalist from New Delhi, working for India's fastest growing news website The Print. She is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young ...

23/11/2022

Carlos Ral Kestler, Young Journalist Award 2022 Finalist

Carlos Ra l Kestler is a 23-year-old journalist from Guatemala. He is a finalist in Thomson Foundation's Young Journalist Award 2022. Every time a tyre t...

21/11/2022

Empowered - a year on from winning the Young Journalist Award

One year ago, I woke up and was surprised to find out the great news that I was selected as the winner of Thomson Foundations Young Journalist Award 2021. This ...