This year will mark the launch of the Climate Media Awards for community media across South Africa.
The awards are open to reporters and content creators in communities all over South Africa. The competition, which closes on November 30th, 2024, is open to submissions in Afrikaans, English and Zulu.
We want to hear from you how the changing climate and extreme weather events impact the lives of ordinary South Africans. The Climate Media Awards offer an opportunity to highlight the vital role that community content creators and local journalists play in sharing local stories about how changing weather patterns affect them and what changes they make to handle them.
Africa and South Africa are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Changing climate conditions and extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and heat waves have both immediate and lasting effects on how people live their lives. Crops fail or need to be changed, homes and infrastructure such as roads are destroyed, insurance costs go up, and many people can no longer consistently grow their own food.
The Climate Media Awards are open to anyone who creates content that highlights how their communities – and any businesses or individuals in them – are affected by changing weather patterns and how they deal with the impact of climate change and energy scarcity. The awards are open to any content creators and are not limited to formally trained journalists. The awards are presented in three categories across isiZulu, Afrikaans, and English.
The awards are being hosted by Scrolla.Africa, with a panel of judges including Africa Melane from CapeTalk/702 and Business Day’s Tiisetso Motsoeneng.
“Community media reporting of climate change is crucial – to take what used to be an elite debate into an everyday discussion for the ordinary person,” said Zukile Majova, political editor at Scrolla.Africa.
“We are no longer talking about global warming as some event that is coming 50 years from now. We are living with the effects of global warming and climate change in villages and townships in the Eastern Cape, KZN, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the Western Cape.
“Good community journalism on the subject must include diverse opinions, go beyond the science and must reflect on the urgency of the situation,” Majova said.
The Climate Media Awards are open to freelance reporters or employees working with traditional local media, digital platforms, and community radio stations.
Categories
The awards will feature four categories:
Category 1: Best audio or video – on any platform or local station
Category 2: Best written article – print, or on any South African site
Category 3: Best social media post – on any platform
Category 4: Judges Wildcard
Prizes for each category:
1st: R15 000
2nd: R10 000
3rd: R5 000
Wild card award: R10 000
How to Enter
Journalists, producers and content creators should submit their entries from September 2024. Submission guidelines, terms and criteria are available here. Entries can be in isiZulu, Afrikaans, and English. The closing date is 30 November 2024. Articles posted, printed or broadcast at any time in 2024 are eligible for the awards.
