If you have applied for fellowships and awards and have not succeeded in winning any or as many as you want, you are not alone. I know many other journalists who keep applying yearly hopping to be lucky someday before they retire from the profession.
With the opportunity to apply open to as many as those qualified, the competition is usually keen and only few can scale through based on the decisions of the selection panels.
Some of those who have won did after many failed entries. There is no magic wand for winning but it is necessary to know what the panels look for to be sure what your chances are even before applying.
Apart from the general requirements like years of experience, age, gender, area of coverage and others, award and fellowship panels look out for some unique qualities in entries and about the applicants.
They want to be sure that the best entries win the awards and only those who will maximise the benefits of their fellowships are selected.
In declaring Declan Okpalaeke overall winner of the CNN African Journalist of the Year in 1999, for his story, A Message of Hope, Chairman of the judging panel, Joel Kibazo said Okpalakeke dealt with the subject “in a sensitive way.” “It showed a depth of research and good use of interviews,” Kibazo stated.
The judges’ citations for CNN award in 2006 are also instructive about what makes an award-winning story.
Spinning scrap into Gold by Isaac Masingati, Malawi
“It ‘s a very simple way of writing, very lucid, very open, but at the end makes you realize business and economics does not have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to be numbers. It’s about people.”
Life and Death by Salwa Jaafari, Maroc
“She covered the problem of immigration in a very meticulous manner. Her research is very complete. She composed the images very well. The sequences all add up to a coherent story.”
Words to note: sensitive, depth, simple, lucid, open, good use of interviews, meticulous, complete and coherent.
Segun Adeoye, Alfred Friendly fellow in a piece titled How to win Journalism Fellowships highlighted ten valuable tips every interested journalist will find useful.
Among other tips, he elaborated on the need to study the aims and objectives of the program you are applying for, submit high quality work samples and have a well crafted professional statement.
Like I noted in the first part of this piece, taking the above steps is not a guarantee that you will win any award or be selected for a fellowship programme. There is an element of luck and subjectivity which will however still take into cognizance excellent entries.
There is more to being a journalist than winning awards and fellowships but it can enhance your career if you succeed.
