As part of the Gender and Media Summit entitled: ‘365 Days of Local Action to End Gender Violence: What Works', March 22 - 24 2010, Gender Links (GL), Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Network, and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) will be hosting the Southern African Gender and Media Awards. The award aims to recognise and acknowledge good practice in mainstreaming gender in reporting across the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

Submissions are invited in the following categories:

Print (including articles published in magazines, newspapers, online publications):

• News (750 words or less)
• Feature stories (between 750-1,500 words)
• Opinion and commentary (between 750–1,200 words)
• Cartoons

Radio:

• News
• Radio documentaries
• Talk shows

Television:

• News
• Documentary

Photojournalism:

• Photographs

Awards for best practices in reporting on the following issues:

• Gender violence
• Political participation
• HIV and AIDS
• Sustained reporting on a particular issue (in this category the applicant needs to submit a series of articles on a particular issue or theme)

Business Unusual Gender and Economic Reporting Award: Participants in the Business Unusual (BU) Training Course conducted by GL in partnership with media training institutions across the region over the last two years are invited to submit articles or productions that demonstrate gender-aware economic reporting. Three BU awards will be issued. The first two are for participants in the training and the third is open to everyone:

• most innovative article/production during the training;
• most innovative article/production after the training; and
• article/production that, in the view of the judges, has given audiences the best understanding of why gender is critical to economic advancement in the SADC region.

Click here for more information about the summit and awards.

Applicants should submit a completed application form for each piece being submitted and any other documentation that can strengthen the application, and copies of the submitted work.

• For print: actual artefacts: photos, newspaper articles, clippings, etc.
• For radio: audio cassettes/CDs
• For television: video cassettes/DVDs
• For photojournalism: actual artefacts
• For opinion and commentary: actual artefacts

Gender Links website on February 19 2010.