Free to enter, European Parliament Prize for Journalism (print/ internet), prize: €5,000 for each category

Deadline: 31 March 2011

The European Parliament Prize for Journalism will be awarded for the fourth time in 2011 to journalists who have covered major issues at European level or promoted better understanding of EU institutions or policies. Journalists can submit their applications as of Saturday 15 January.

There will be four different categories for the prize: written press, radio, TV and Internet, the winner in each section receiving €5,000.

The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2011.

Individuals or teams of up to five people are eligible to contribute articles or reports. The contributions must have been published or broadcast between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011 in one of the official languages of the European Union. All entrants must be registered journalists who are nationals or residents of an EU Member State.

Juries will be set up to select winners in each category in every EU Member State. A final jury, led by a European Parliament Vice-President, will then select the four EU-wide winners, who will receive their prizes at a presentation ceremony in October 2011.

Application forms and the full rules of the prize are available on a special website (see below).

In 2010 the winners came from Hungary, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

For further information, please contact Teodor Stoychev, EP Press Service, tel. +32 498 983 986.

Purpose

1. The European Parliament Prize for Journalism shall be awarded to journalists who have made an outstanding contribution to the clarification of major issues at European level or have promoted a better understanding of the institutions or policies of the European Union. The European Parliament recognises the media's role in holding EU institutions and their work to account. The Prize will therefore be awarded in the spirit of respect for the freedom and full independence of media and of media pluralism and in the context of the European Parliament's desire to improve communication between the EU institutions and European citizens.

2. The European Parliament Prize for Journalism shall be awarded for the fourth time in October 2011.

Sections

1. The European Parliament Prize for Journalism shall honour work in four categories: written press, radio, television and internet.

2. There shall be one prize winner in each category.

Eligibility criteria

1. A distinction shall be made between the criteria applicable to contributions and those applicable to their authors.

a. The contributions eligible for the award of the European Parliament Prize for Journalism shall:

* be single articles for the written press or internet categories and single reports for the radio or television categories;
* deal with major issues at European level or promote a better understanding of the institutions or policies of the European Union;
* have been published or disseminated between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2011;
* be in one of the official languages of the European Union;
* be in or on a media outlet of one of the categories listed under Rule 2 § 1, and legally registered in a European Union Member State;
* not already have been awarded another prize by the closing date for receipt of applications;
* not already have received funding through the EU institutions.

b. Authors may be individuals or teams of up to 5 people at most. The individuals or members of the team must be nationals or residents of a European Union Member State and registered journalists.

Admission procedure

1. The European Parliament shall post a call for applications on the internet site of its information office in each European Union Member State and, if necessary, advertise it.

2. The call for applications for the 2011 edition of the European Parliament Prize for Journalism shall be deemed open on 15 January 2011, and shall be closed on 31 March 2011.

3. The application form will be available on the internet sites of the above mentioned European Parliament information offices. It must be duly completed either by the applicants themselves, in their own names, or on behalf of the teams of which they are members, or by an authority representing the media outlet that employs them, or by a member of the general public recommending a published article or broadcast programme. However, the prize is not awarded to a media outlet but solely to a person or team.

4. Only one entry per applicant or per team shall be admitted, but a single media outlet may submit several entries.

5. There shall be no entry fee, provided the requirements set out in Rule 5 are met.

Presentation of entries

1. The entry, which should be attached to the form mentioned under Rule 4, must in all cases be presented as follows:

a. For written entries, published on paper or the internet:

* format A4, numbered pages;
* if the entry is transmitted by registered mail or is hand-delivered, 3 printed copies required (including the original);
* in the original language;
* name of the newspaper, journal, channel or website in/on which the entry first appeared (as appropriate).

b. For recorded radio or audiovisual entries, including those published on the internet:

* if the entry is transmitted by registered mail or is hand-delivered, 3 CDs or DVDs, with broadcast quality files;
* in the original language;
* synopsis in the original language;
* name of the programme in which the entry was first broadcast.

2. All entries must be submitted through the internet site of the Prize or sent by electronic mail, or registered mail, or hand-delivered with acknowledgement of receipt to the address of the European Parliament information office in the country of residence of the applicant or of their representative.

Timetable

The deadlines for the 2011 edition of the European Parliament Prize for Journalism are as follows:

* prize announcement: 15 January 2011
* receipt of applications: 31 March 2011
* selection of entries: 18 May 2011
* selection of prize winners: mid September 2011
* prize awarded: mid October 2011

Prize allocation

1. The European Parliament Prize for Journalism Prize is € 20,000, broken down as follows:

* written press category: € 5,000
* radio category: € 5,000
* television category: € 5,000
* internet category: € 5,000

Apply here.