The Wikimedia Foundation 2023 Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards
The Wikimedia Foundation 2023 Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards is an annual awards program designed to celebrate individuals, organizations, and projects that are creating an effective impact on the global knowledge and journalism landscape. The awards are available to anyone, regardless of age, nationality, and background, who is sincerely working to create knowledge and journalism more open and accessible.
The Wikimedia Foundation has established the first Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards, to celebrate the contributions of journalists in Africa who organize diversity, equity, and inclusion in their reporting. The awards acknowledge the vital role journalists take in producing well-researched articles that volunteer editors can use as source materials to generate content on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Journalists’ work helps to increase the knowledge based on one of the world’s most visited websites so that it is more reflective of the topics, events, and people that affect the understanding of culture and history through the ages. African journalists living on the continent are requested to self-nominate articles they have written that assist in growing knowledge about Africa.
African journalists living on the continent can self-nominate articles they have written under the following categories that have been selected with the help of Wikimedia contributors in Africa.
- Arts, Culture, Heritage, and Sports
- Health, Climate Change, and Environment
- Women and Youth
- Digital and Human Rights
ALSO TRENDING: The 2023 EU Global Cultural Relations Programme for Creative Professionals
Eligibility Requirements for the Wikimedia Foundation 2023 Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards
Interested Journalists must have met the eligibility requirements below before applying;
- Journalists must be citizens of a country in Africa and primarily reside on the African continent.
- Articles should be about the African continent and relate to the award categories (listed below).
- Articles should have been published between January 1, 2022, to June 23, 2023.
- Articles should be published in English.
- The articles should be your own original work, with in-depth analysis and/or investigative reporting.
- Submissions will be easier to review if you supply proof of the article’s publication in the form of a link/URL.
- Articles that are submitted must be accurate and well-researched, without seeking to misinform or misrepresent facts. Objective, well-researched articles ensure that the information on Wikipedia is accurate.
- Because the Wikimedia Foundation respects human rights, they are looking for articles that are developed with the utmost respect for people. They seek journalists who demonstrate ethical conduct and adherence to journalistic standards.
- Wikimedia Foundation promotes access to free knowledge. Because of this, articles must be made available for viewing without a paywall.
Benefits
- First-place award recipient: will receive USD $2,000, a trophy, a certificate of recognition, and an opportunity to join Wikimedians at the African Regional Community Conference, Wiki Indaba, in November 2023. While there, the award recipient will have the opportunity to share more about their experiences as a journalist and some of the challenges and opportunities they see in their work.
- Second-place award recipient: will receive USD $1,500, and a certificate of recognition.
- Special Mentions: will be given by the Wikimedia Foundation to an additional four nominees, one in each category.
- All awardees (including those receiving special mentions) and their work will be celebrated on the Wikimedia Foundation’s website and social media channels.
Method of Application
If interested you can submit as many articles as you would like to be considered for this recognition. Regardless, you cannot submit the same article in more than one category. You have to determine which category best represents the contents of the article.
The Wikimedia Foundation 2023 Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards
