2013 SADC Media Awards

The SADC Secretariat announces the launch of the 2013 SADC Media Awards Competition and the 2013 SADC Water Media Awards Competition. The Awards are in the fields of Print Journalism, Radio Journalism, Television Journalism and Photojournalism. Prospective entrants are invited to submit their entries accompanied by proof of their nationality to the National Adjudication Committee (NAC) in their respective countries.

Rules of the Competition

a)  The entries should have been published/ broadcast between January and December the year preceding the awards (2012) by a registered and/or authorised media house or agency or carried on a website of a registered and/or authorised media house or agency in any of the SADC Member States;

b)  The themes of the entries to be submitted for the competition must be on issues and activities promoting Regional Integration in the SADC region: 

1. The entries to be submitted must be on issues and activities promoting Regional Integration in the SADC Region.
2. The entries to be submitted on the Water Media Awards must be on issues and activities promoting Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in the SADC region (see specific guidelines for the Water Media Awards below).

c)  All media practitioners who are SADC nationals may enter the competition, except those in institutions contracted by SADC and the SADC Secretariat staff;

d)  All works entering the competition should be in one of the SADC working languages, i.e. English, Portuguese and French and should be submitted as they were published / broadcast (newspaper cuttings, websites, magazines, audio CDs  or video cassettes/DVDs);

e)   Entries are invited from the following categories:

1. Print Journalism: comprising features/articles published in newspapers, newsletters, website.
2. Radio Journalism: comprising broadcast material.
3. Television Journalism: comprising televised material.
4. Photojournalism: comprising published pictures with a caption or text.

• Print Journalism submissions should have a minimum of 600 (six hundred) words and a maximum of 2000 (two thousand) words.
• Broadcast or televised materials should have a minimum duration of five minutes and a maximum duration of thirty minutes and all Broadcast material should be accompanied by a transcript in any of the three SADC languages.

f)    All entries must be submitted to the National Adjudication Committee not later than March 31, 2013.

g)    All submissions must contain full contact details of the journalist, including, passport-sized photograph, physical address, telephone and, where applicable, fax number and e-mail address.

h)    Entries will be initially screened and judged by the National Adjudication Committee in each Member State, which will select the best entry in each of the four categories to be forwarded to the Regional Adjudication Committee (RAC), through the SADC Secretariat not later than May 31, 2013.  The SADC Secretariat shall not be responsible for any loss or damage to the work or material submitted.

i)    Selection of the best regional entries will be decided upon by the RAC.

j)    The RAC reserves the right not to award the prizes if the entries do not meet the competition requirements.

k)   The decision of the RAC shall be final.

l)    The winners will be announced and receive their prizes during the 32nd  SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government. 

m)  The Awards will include Print, Radio, Television and Photo journalism and each category carries a prize of US$2000.00.

n)   The monetary prizes will be accompanied by a certificate signed by the SADC Chairperson.

o)   The prizes will be paid directly to the winner. In the case of a winner being unable to attend the ceremony, SADC will make arrangements to give the prize in his/her home country;

Further information and entry forms can be obtained from the National Adjudication Committee and SADC Media Coordinators in each Member State.