The Harry Chapin Media Awards (HCMA) was created to encourage the media to tell the stories of hunger and economic poverty. The HCMAs honour print and electronic media for outstanding 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 seven media categories: newspaper; periodical (magazines or ezines); television/film; radio; photojournalism; new media; and books.

All entries for this year's HCMAs must have appeared in the media between January 1 2009 and December 31 2009. International entries must be submitted in English. Unpublished manuscripts or photographs are not eligible. Television, film, and radio must have been broadcast within the year.

All submissions must include the application form and two (2) copies of the work, which should be in the following format:

• Books: Two (2) copies of the published book
• Newspapers and Periodicals: One (1) original tearsheet and one (1) one photocopy on standard letter-size paper
• TV/Film: Two (2) DVDs
• Radio: Two (2) CDs or DVDs
• Photojournalism: Two (2) copies of the tearsheets from the original publication and a CD-ROM of images. Submissions are accepted via email at lisa@whyhunger.org
• New Media: Content must exist exclusively online. Please submit links to lisa@whyhunger.org

All entries must also include appropriate application fees:
One Entry - US$25 Two Entries - US$40 Three to Five Entries - US$50.

Click here to read about previous winners.

Email from Lisa Batitto to The Communication Initiative on December 2 2009 and the WHY website on December 2 2009.