Eligibility
- There is no entry fee.
- The competition is open to all journalists, freelance or full-time, working in Uganda.
- Work submitted must be published or broadcast in a Ugandan media outlet or a regional news outlet with wide distribution in Uganda.
- All work submitted must have been broadcast or published between 1 January and 31 December, 2020.
Any news article, broadcast programme or series, covering a single topic or subject in the categories listed for competition, is eligible.
If a story series is submitted, all parts of the story series must be entered into competition.
Submission of local language articles and broadcasts is encouraged. They must be accompanied with official English translations or transcripts.
If a story with a shared byline is submitted, a detailed explanation of each team member’s contribution must be given. Cash prizes for shared bylines are shared equally among all journalists, unless there is a clear lead writer and this testimony is backed by a signed letter from an entrant’s editorial manager.
Members of the public and editorial managers can submit an entry on behalf of a journalist. In such a situation, we shall contact the journalists to confirm his or her consent to participate in the competition.
Competition categories
There are 20 categories for competition. Detailed information about the competition categories is available here.
- Journalists can submit only one article, broadcast or series in each category.
- A submission may not be entered into more than one category.
- Entry of two submissions in a category is only permitted if one of the submissions contains a shared byline or production credit.
- Submissions shall be made to a maximum of three categories only.
- Journalists can only submit up to three entries in total, including one shared byline.
File formats for entries
All entries must include the date and outlet in which they were published or broadcast.
Print entries
- All submissions must contain the Uganda National Journalism Awards 2021 submission form.
- All entries must be clearly labelled with the name of the participating journalist(s) and story title.
- Print entries should be submitted as clean, clearly legible, text recognisable PDF documents. The date of publication must be clearly visible.
- Photographs should be sent, as published, in PDF format or as cuttings of the original published copies.
- News illustration entries should be sent in PDF format or as cuttings of the original copies.
- Entries submitted in a format other than the recommended one will be disqualified.
Radio:
- All submissions must contain the Uganda National Journalism Awards 2021 submission form.
- All entries must be clearly labelled with the name of the participating journalist(s) and story title.
- All work must be submitted in audio form. Radio scripts with accompanying sound bytes will be disregarded.
- Emailed entries must be in MP3 format (not under 128 bitrate). Physical deliveries may be made on audio CD which is clearly labelled (name and entry title).
- Entries must not be longer than 60 minutes.
- Large files should be sent using Google Drive or other large file FTP services like SendSpace and BigFiles. If you choose to send files using a third party platform, please send an email to awards@acme-ug.org (subject: UNJA 2021 file submission) alerting us to expect your submission.
- Links to podcasts, websites will not be accepted.
Television:
- All submissions must contain the Uganda National Journalism Awards 2021 submission form.
- All entries must be clearly labelled with the name of the participating journalist(s) and story title.
- All work must be submitted in the format in which it was broadcast.
- Emailed entries must be in MP4, AVI or MOV format. Physical deliveries may be made on DVD and clearly labelled (name and entry title).
- Entries must not be longer than 60 minutes.
- Large files should be sent using Google Drive or other large file FTP services like SendSpace and BigFiles. Ensure that you enable all necessary access permissions.
- If you choose to send files using a third party platform, please send an email to awards@acme-ug.org (subject: UNJA 2021 file submission) alerting us to expect your submission.
- Links to websites or YouTube channels will not be accepted.
Online:
- All submissions must contain the Uganda National Journalism Awards 2021 submission form.
- All entries must be clearly labelled with the name of the participating journalist(s) and story title.
- Journalists should provide offline versions of the online published work in legible, machine-readable PDF format. They are also required to provide working live or cached links for the articles.
Submission guidelines
Entries may be submitted in the following ways:
By physical delivery to the African Centre for Media Excellence, C/o Uganda National Journalism Awards 2020, Plot 130 Kalungu Road, Bbunga-Soya, Ggaba Road, Kampala.
By email to awards@acme-ug.org, subject: ‘UNJA 2021 submission (and chosen category name, e.g. Feature reporting)’
Follow these instructions to submit your entries:
- Read the Awards category descriptions carefully to select the competition category best suited to your story.
- Download and fill in the Uganda National Journalism Awards 2021 submission form (click the link to save)
- Send the filled in form and your entries in one email to awards@acme-ug.org. Subject: ‘UNJA 2021 submission (and category name)’. Or send physical copies of the submission form and your entries to the African Centre for Media Excellence.
- Each entry must be accompanied by a separate submission form. Entries that do not have an accompanying submission form will be automatically disqualified.
For further inquiries about the Uganda National Journalism Awards, write to awards@acme-ug.org, Subject: ‘UNJA 2021 inquiries’.