As part of the Haayo-Mediactic project funded by the Open Society Institute West Africa (OSIWA), the Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) has launched a contest to recognise print and broadcast journalism covering the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in elections. The contest is open to all print and broadcast media journalists from West and Central Africa.

The article or radio programme should focus specifically on one of the following issues:

• the use of internet during campaigns;
• impact of internet on campaigns and elections;
• mobile telephony and elections;
• ICTs and election transparency (electoral file, voter card, data transmission security, statistics); and
• ICTs as part of election candidates’ programmes.

Articles and radio productions previously published/broadcast (at most 6 months ago) can be submitted (except those that already won awards in other competitions or those submitted to or produced for the Panos Institute West Africa). PIWA will award three prizes to the best productions (written media or radio) in the contest.

For Print Media - A cash prize of FCFA 1,000,000 (about US$2,000) will be awarded to the journalist with the best production.

For Radio - A cash prize of FCFA 500,000 (about US$1,000) will be awarded to the journalist with the best radio production. He or she will also be invited to a prize-giving ceremony that will take place in Dakar in mid-2008, during a side event of a regional workshop organised by PIWA.

Special Prize - a cash prize of FCFA 300,000 (about US$600) will be awarded to the journalist with the most promising production (either for print media or radio).

Click here for more information about the award.

All applications should include the following:

• one or two articles in French or in English on one of the topics proposed OR one or two radio productions in French or English between 5 and 10 minutes long;
• a letter signed by the journalist to attest that (a) she/he is truly the author of the article(s) or radio production(s) sent; (b) the article or radio production was not awarded in other contests;
• a detailed CV that shows, if need be, a list of previous articles or radio productions on ICTs (mentioning the newspaper/website where they were published, the date of publication, etc.); and
• a document attesting that the candidate is actually a journalist in a press organisation.

Applications must be submitted to judith_lenti@yahoo.fr and contact@cipaco.org with the subject line “PIWA media contest on ICT.” Applications may be sent by post to the address below, but late submissions will not be judged.