2016 Kurt Schork Memorial Fund Awards in International Journalism

April 5, 2016

Application Deadline: May 31st 2016

The Kurt Schork Memorial Fund (KSMF) is now accepting submissions for its 2016 awards in international journalism.

KSMF invites freelance journalists everywhere to enter the 15th annual edition of the awards, established in 2002 to honour American freelance journalist Kurt Schork, who was killed in 2000 while on assignment for Reuters in Sierra Leone.

Unique to print journalists worldwide, the awards recognise the work of reporters who seek to illuminate the human condition through courageous reporting of conflict, corruption, human rights transgressions and other fundamental issues of the day.

The awards are in two categories: a Local Reporter award that recognises the often over-looked work of journalists in developing nations or countries in transition who write about events in their homeland. The second is for Freelance journalists who travel to the world’s conflict zones, usually at great personal risk, to witness and report the impact and consequences of events.

2016 Submission criteria:

Submitted articles must have been published between June 1, 2015 and May 31, 2016.
Accepted media: any print-based medium, such as newspapers and magazines, or established online publications. Blogs, personal websites and social media pages or channels are not accepted.
Articles can encompass war reporting, human rights issues, cross-border troubles, corruption or other controversial matters impacting on people’s lives. Judges will be looking for professionalism, high journalistic standards, and evidence of dedication and courage in obtaining the story.
Three separate articles must be submitted
Because of problems with scanned entries and failed links in previous years, we require that each article be provided as a text file – MS Word (.doc or .docx) or similar text format (.rtf), or a PDF of a text file.
You may supply a URL link to your article(s), or a scan (as a PDF or JPG file) as supporting evidence of the publication context, but your entry will be automatically disqualified if you do not also submit the required text files.

Additional material you must provide:

a CV or resumé about your education and journalism career.
a passport-quality photo (JPEG, GIF or PNG file, size no larger than 250Kb).
a high standard English translation if your original article is in another language.
a short statement explaining what you had to do to get the story.

The maximum file size for text submissions or scans is 5Mb.

The stories can be about conflict, human rights, cross-border issues, corruption, or any other controversial matter in a particular country or region. Each submission must demonstrate professionalism, meet international journalistic standards and provide evidence that courage and professional tenacity were required in covering the story.

Entrants must complete the entry form (either an online version or, if necessary, a PDF for printing and posting*) and supply supporting documentation such as a CV or resumé about their education and journalistic experience, a passport-type photo and an English translation if their entry has been published in another language.