The 2025 True Story Award is currently accepting entries for its official call for submissions. This prestigious global media prize, now in its fifth year, is open to reports that have been published worldwide.
The award recognizes and honors exceptional journalistic investigation, taking into account the depth of the research, the time dedicated to the report, and the specific context of the nation.
Additionally, the award acknowledges the writing prowess of the reporters, considering narrative elegance, sincerity, and journalistic craftsmanship.
Furthermore, considering its national significance, it highlights the report’s contribution and potential impact on the political, social, and economic spheres. This award aims to uplift and inspire journalists worldwide by setting an example.
In the 21st century, journalism faces challenges such as curtailed press freedom, technological dispersion of media, political manipulation, and economic exploitation, making the role of journalism as a fundamental institution for democracy more crucial than ever.
Award Overview:
- Switzerland is the host country
- Award winners take home USD 20,000 each
- Open to all nationalities.
- The contest is sponsored by true story award
- The application deadline is 22nd Oct 2024
Benefits and Aim of Award:
The primary goal of the award is to facilitate communication between global journalists and Bernese audiences.
From the nominated reports, three winners will be selected by the main jury, which consists of seven representatives from each of the five continents. A cash prize of USD 20,000 will be awarded to the winners of each category.
Selection Criteria:
Renowned professionals from publishing, education, literature, and journalism will make up the jury, which will read and assess all of the texts submitted before selecting one author per category and language region to receive the True Story Award in 2025.
The jury will place each entry into one of these three categories. It will stay the same for you, my dear comrades.
Interview Procedure, Date, and Location:
Reportages from all across the world are eligible to be submitted for the True Story Award 2025.
The texts will appear in magazines, newspapers, websites, and daily or weekly newspapers between October 1st, 2023, and September 30t, 2024.
Late entries won’t be taken into consideration.
The word count of the text should range from 3,000 to 17,000 words.
Manuscripts, books, and republished writings are not accepted.
Audiovisual and visual creations are not accepted.
Biographies, essays, and historical non-fiction are not accepted.
Both editors and authors may submit texts.
When you submit your work, you certify that it adheres to journalistic standards and covers events that have been well studied.
An invitation to the True Story Festival and Award ceremony in Bern, Switzerland, scheduled for June 20–22, 2025, will be extended to a total of 36 journalists.
How to Apply:
To apply, visit the True Story Award official website
The deadline for submissions is October 22nd, 2024, at noon UTC.
The program accepts reports that were published in one of the top ten world languages between October 1st, 2023, and September 30th, 2024, or as a translation if the original text was not written in one of these languages.
Reports from your publications may also be submitted by editors.