Journalists in SADC member countries will get an opportunity to showcase their work as the regional body has officially opened calls for entries to the prestigious annual media awards.
The 2018 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Media Awards Competition was launched at the SADC workshop hosted at the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism on Friday, 3 November.
All entries must be submitted to the National Adjudication Committee not later than 27 February 2018. The award ceremony will take place at the SADC Heads of State summit in August 2018.
The entry form and rules are available on https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_documents/Entry_ form_English.pdf and https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_documents/2018_Rules_of_Competition_English.pdf.
The submitted work must have been published or broadcast between January and December 2017 by a registered or authorised media house or agency, or carried on a website of a registered or authorised media house or agency in any of the SADC member states.
Category requirements
The requirements for each category of the SADC Media Awards Competition are as follows:
Print journalism: features/articles published in newspapers, newsletters, websites, magazines; Print Journalism submissions should have a minimum of 100 words and a maximum of 2 000 words.
Radio journalism: broadcast material; radio journalism broadcast material should have a minimum duration of one minute and a maximum of 30 minutes. All broadcast material should be submitted on a CD or USB. The entries should be accompanied by electronic transcript in word format for translation purposes.
Television journalism: televised material; broadcast material should have a minimum duration of one minute and a maximum of 45 minutes. All broadcast material should be submitted on a CD or USB. The entries should be accompanied by electronic transcript in word format for translation purposes.
Photojournalism: published pictures with a caption; photographic entries should have one photo, or a pictorial spread of not more than 20 photos published in one issue/edition. Each entry must be accompanied by an original newspaper in which photo(s) were published.
Media coverage to promote regional integration
The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS), as the secretariat of the SADC Media Awards, hosted the workshop on Friday to engage journalists on the new rules of the competition.
“Media plays a pivotal role in the development of the SADC region. The media should continue to tell stories that promote regional integration in the SADC region.
“Trade amongst SADC countries has increased massively. South Africa’s tenure as the SADC chair will advance the priorities of the region from infrastructure development, industrialisation, peace keeping and the roll out of ICT infrastructure to communities,” said Acting Deputy Director General at GCIS, Michael Currin.
South Africa, by virtue of being the current chair of SADC, will be chairing the SADC Media Awards Regional Adjudication Committee meeting next year.
The chairperson of the National Adjudication Committee (NAC), Livhuwani Mutshatshi, emphasised the need for South African media to cover stories that promote regional integration.
Former winner of the SADC Media Awards and current member of the NAC, Tshepo Ikaneng, also encouraged journalists to cover SADC issues.
“When I won the SADC Media Award, it opened doors for my career. I am now one of the senior reporters at the SABC,” said the seasoned journalist. - SAnews.gov.za
