The Drum Beat 425 - Awards and Funding Opportunities

From The Communication Initiative Network - where communication and media are central to social and economic development.

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This issue of the Drum Beat includes a selection of awards and funding opportunities summarised on The Communication Initiative (The CI) website with deadlines between January 15 and April 30 2008. Details about the prizes are in the full descriptions, including criteria, deadlines, and previous winners. Please click on the links provided below for the full descriptions.

There are additional awards and funding opportunities available; please visit the Awards and Funding Opportunities sections of The CI website for information on more support initiatives.

If you have information about other contests, prizes and funding opportunities that address communication for development issues and strategies, please contact us. Send details and links to Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com Many thanks!

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AWARDS

1. The Grantham Prize - North America
Honours excellence in reporting on the environment by media in the United States (US) and Canada to encourage coverage of the environment, to recognise reporting that has the potential to bring about constructive change, and to increase public awareness and understanding of issues focusing on the environment. The US$75,000 prize is awarded to nonfiction work done in North America during the previous calendar year in newspapers, magazines, and books and on television, cable, radio, and online.
Deadline: Book entries January 14 2008; all other entries February 4 2008

2. International Children's Painting Competition on the Environment - Global
Recognises children's paintings that focus on concrete actions to address climate change, such as using renewable energy, using public transport, and planting trees. Designed for children between the ages of 6 and 14 years, this award is offered by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Japan-based Foundation for Global Peace and Environment (FGPE), Bayer, and Nikon Corporation. The organisers invite children to submit their paintings to the UNEP office in their region.
Deadline: January 15 2008

3.William Wilberforce Award - Global
Awards organisations and individuals who are working to eradicate human trafficking and modern-day slavery. The William Wilberforce Award will be given to an individual who has moved a major institution, a business, or large groups of people to significant action to fight slavery. It will award the winning individual a total of US$10,000 over 2 years, to be used as he or she feels is appropriate.
Deadline: January 18 2008

4. Young Men at Risk: Transforming the Power of a Generation - Global
Encourages innovative approaches to supporting at-risk young men between the ages of 15-25 in realising their potential and reaching a successful and healthy adulthood. The competition will provide funding for the most innovative work in fields from music to mental health to support the expansion of their impact on a generation of young men.
Deadline: January 23 2008

5. UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize - Global
Invites United Nations member states, regional and international organisations, and professional and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in the field of journalism and freedom of expression to nominate candidates for the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize. The US$25,000 award honours a journalist or organisation that has made a notable contribution to the defence and promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world.
Deadline: January 30 2008

6. Susie Smith Memorial Prize - Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa
Awards £3,000 to an already-published piece of work on HIV/AIDS from sub-Saharan Africa. Any type of piece (e.g., poetry, fiction, article, chapter of a book) of up to 10,000 words that was published in the English language since January 2006 will be eligible.
Deadline: January 31 2008

7.Anne Templeton Zimmerman Awards - United States
Awards 2 fellowships to young adults (ages 21-30) who have demonstrated consistent determination, creativity, and results in the anti-slavery movement. The awardees, who must be eligible to work in the US, may have shown their commitment against slavery in a variety of ways; for example, by: raising awareness in communities, advocating for improved policies, helping set up programmes with people in slavery or former slaves, or making films about slavery. The recipients will receive a 1-year fellowship to work with Free the Slaves and the opportunity to travel overseas to learn about other anti-slavery efforts.
Deadline: January 31 2008

8. NASW Science in Society Journalism Awards - United States
Honours outstanding investigative or interpretive reporting - without subsidy from any professional or commercial interest - about the sciences and their impact for good and bad - especially the kind of critical, probing article that would not receive an award from an interest group. The National Association of Science Writers (NASW) will award separate cash prizes of US$2,500 for writing judged best in each of these 3 categories: books, periodicals (newspaper and magazine), and electronic media (radio, television, and the internet).
Deadline: February 1 2008

9.Excellence in Media Award for Global Health - 2008 - Global
Honours a journalist (print, electronic, and/or visual) who has in the prior year most effectively captured the essence of a major issue in global health and conveyed it to a broad audience. Selection of the awardee is based on the quality of the reporting - in publication and in broadcast, including television and new media, photojournalism, and community media - as well as its wide reach among readers and viewers.
Deadline: February 1 2008

10.Harry Chapin Media Awards - Global
Honours print and electronic media for coverage of hunger and economic poverty and the underlying root causes of these problems. This includes work on economic inequality and insecurity, unemployment, homelessness, domestic empowerment, sustainable development, food production, agriculture, nutrition, and the struggle for land. The awards are cash prizes of US$1,000 - $2,500. The awards cover 6 media categories: newspaper, periodical (magazines or e-zines), television/film, radio, photojournalism, and books.
Deadline: February 1 2008

11. The STARS Impact Awards - Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa
Awards charities (with income levels between US$100,000 and US$5 million) that work with disadvantaged children in each of the STARS Foundation's 3 chosen areas of health, education, and protection. This year, the awards are for organisations located and working in Africa. The awardee in each category will receive a cash award of US$100,000 as well as consultancy support.
Deadline: February 1 2008

12. 2008 Gold Quill Awards - Special Categories - Global
Recognises communication that crosses communication disciplines - from professional communicators to strategists and tacticians. All Gold Quill Awards winners will receive the following: international recognition in the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)'s magazine, "Communication World"; acclaim at IABC's international conference; mention on the IABC website; and consideration for publication in IABC's resource materials. Included in a list of many categories are: Economic, Social, and Environmental Development; Issues Management and Crisis Communication; Multilingual Communications; and Multi-Audience Communication.
Deadline: February 12 2008

13. ICIJ Biannual Award for Outstanding International Investigative Reporting - Global, United States
Honours excellence in transnational investigative journalism. There will be 2 prizes of US$10,000 each. The first will be for outstanding investigative journalism by a US-based reporter or news organisation. The second will be for outstanding investigative journalism by a non-US-based reporter or news organisation. There will be up to 5 finalist awards of US$1,000 each.
Deadline: February 15 2008

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Access all information on these specific issues through a Theme Site on The CI:

Avian Influenza

Early Child Development

Democracy and Governance

HIV/AIDS

ICT4D

ICT Policies and Studies

Natural Resource Management

Polio

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14. Red Ribbon Award: Celebrating Community Leadership and Action on AIDS - Global
Honours and celebrates outstanding community leadership and action that has helped curtail the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS. Nominations will be accepted for community-based organisations and initiatives demonstrating outstanding leadership in increasing access to treatment, addressing social injustices, empowering women and girls, promoting prevention, and providing support for children affected by HIV and AIDS.
Deadline: February 29 2008

15.Rodos International Films and Visual Arts Festival Ecofilms Prize - Global
Recognises films for their innovative approach to conservation issues, for their daring proposal in subject matter, and for their artistic qualities. Rodos International Films and Visual Arts Festival Ecofilms invite submissions of documentaries, shorts, and features with environmental and ecology themes, particularly those dealing with conservation issues and issues related to the natural, the human, and the built environment. Cash awards range from EU7,000 to EU3,000.
Deadline: March 1 2008

16.IWMF Courage in Journalism Award - Global
Honours women working in the news media who have demonstrated extraordinary strength of character in pursuing their profession under difficult or dangerous circumstances. These women show a commitment to journalism, as exemplified by a willingness to continually put their lives or their freedom at risk to produce a body of work in the face of government oppression, political pressure, physical danger, or other intimidating obstacles. Each awardee will receive a cash award of at least US$5,000.
Deadline: March 1 2008

17.African Farmers' Strategies for Coping with Climate Change Radio Scriptwriting Competition - Africa
Invites African radio organisations (including broadcasters, production organisations, NGOs with a radio project, and farmers' associations with a radio show) to submit a radio script on one of the following themes related to climate change: water and soil management; cropping strategies, with an emphasis on drought-resistant plants; livestock management practices; fisheries and agroforestry; and related topics.
Deadline: March 15 2008

18.Scenarios from Africa: AIDS Contest - Africa
Invites people aged 24 years and younger to submit creative, original ideas for a film of up to 5 minutes in length that focuses on HIV and AIDS. Selected ideas will be adapted by professional scriptwriters, turned into films by some of Africa's current film directors, and broadcast on national and international television.
Deadline: March 15 2008

19.Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) Awards - Global
Honours work on the environment from journalists internationally that has appeared in newspapers, magazines, newsletters, online services, as well as on radio and TV and in books. The work will be recognised in 9 categories, each carrying a US$1,000 prize.
Deadline: April 1 2008

20.Stop TB Partnership/Lilly MDR-TB Partnership Journalism Award - Global
Recognises outstanding reporting and commentary in print and on the web that increases the public's knowledge and understanding of tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) in countries affected by the disease. The winning articles must be published between March 1 2007 and March 31 2008 in a general circulation newspaper, magazine, or web news vehicle located in a low- or middle-income country.
Deadline: April 30 2008

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

21.Pfizer Fellowship in Health Literacy / Clear Health Communication - United States
Supports the career development of talented junior researchers whose work focuses on diet/exercise, smoking cessation, prevention, disease management, or adherence. The recipient's research should incorporate interdisciplinary approaches and knowledge and bridge the academic and practising communities. The grant of US$130,000, paid over 2 years, is primarily intended for salary support.
Deadline: January 15 2008

22.Nieman Fellowships in Global Health Reporting - Global, United States
Offers an opportunity for those reporting on health issues in the developing world to spend the 2008-2009 academic year at Harvard University, located in Massachusetts (US). Eligible applicants include full-time staff or freelance journalists (for the news or editorial departments of newspapers, wire services, radio, television, online publications, or magazines), photojournalists, editorial cartoonists, columnists, and broadcast producers. One fellowship will go to a US citizen, one to a citizen of a developed nation (including European Union nations, Canada, and Japan), and one to a journalist from a developing nation.
Deadline: January 31 2008

23.Clive Menell Fellowships 2008 - South Africa
Provides an opportunity for 2 South African journalists to participate in a 3-week programme of discussion and study on international media issues. The fellows join colleagues from major media in Europe and the US at Duke University's DeWitt Wallace Center for Communication and Journalism in the US.
Deadline: January 31 2008 for March/April fellowships; August 31 2008 for October/November fellowships

24. New Voices Grants - United States
Awards funds to launch new community news ventures and to cooperate with J-Lab in spotlighting best practices and lessons learned. Successful applicants will be ventures that benefit a defined geographic or special-interest community, and that foster an open exchange of journalistically sound ideas, information, news and opinion in those communities. Through 2008, New Voices will help fund the startup of 10 micro-local news projects with grants of US$12,000, support them with an educational website, and help foster their sustainability through US$5,000 second-year matching grants.
Deadline: February 20 2008

25.Project Awards for the Development of HIV/AIDS Programming - Caribbean
Provides awards of up to US$5,000 to help motivate and underwrite the development and production of local television and radio programming on HIV/AIDS and related issues in the Caribbean. Broadcasters that are members of the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership (CBMP) are encouraged to submit innovative programming concepts for consideration; CBMP indicates that, whenever possible, multiple broadcasters should work collaboratively to develop joint proposals for consideration.
Deadline: February 29 2008

26.Kaiser Media Fellowships in Health - United States
Awards up to 10 fellowships to print, television, radio, and online journalists to research and report on US health policy issues. Applicants must be US citizens, or must work for an accredited US media organisation. Stipends will be awarded based on the length of the fellowship - up to US$50,000 for a 9-month fellowship. The programme also covers expenses such as travel costs and computer equipment, based on the needs of the project.
Deadline: March 7 2008

27.Rosalynn Carter Fellowships For Mental Health Journalism - South Africa, United States
Provides grants to journalists in the US and South Africa to study topics related to mental health or mental illnesses. According to the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship website, informed journalists can have a significant impact upon public understanding of mental health issues, as they shape debate and trends with the words and pictures they convey. Projects may educate the public, raise awareness, and inform other journalists in the field.
Deadline: April 28 2008

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This issue was written by Julie Levy.

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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.

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