Submission Rules

1. The deadline for entries is Thursday 29 February 2024. No late entries will be accepted.
2. Entrants should submit one entry per category. Each entry must consist of three pieces of original journalistic works, covering print, online news stories. For radio/audio or TV/video news the submissions must comprise the recording of the news story and transcriptions. All submitted news stories must have been published or broadcast between 1 January and 31 December 2023.
3. Submissions shall be in the language that the media house reports its journalism. Where necessary, the organizers of the competition will arrange translations for non-English entries.
4. Stories for the category awards shall be defined as follows:
• A newspaper or magazine news article
• A television or video news report
• A radio or podcast news report
• An online news article
5. Each submitted news story must include a motivation of 400 words. The motivation should highlight the entry’s strengths in line with the criteria, i.e. news value, impact, rigour in reporting, analytical value, originality, integrity, specialist knowledge and storytelling (refer to the ‘criteria’ section for more detail).
6. Each entry must be submitted with its own entry for
7. An entry submitted for one category cannot be re-submitted for another or different category of the competition
8. Where applicable, the independent judging panel reserves the right to exercise discretion and allocate a submitted entry to what they deem a relevant category
9. Entries involving collaboration between journalists are restricted to two writers/by-lines/reporters and must include written consent of the co-author and the editor
10. An entry submitted as a serialised feature article will be considered if the submission adheres to the criteria for submitting a single entry, i.e. three pieces of journalistic work (see point 2 under submission rules).
11. Print and online articles must be submitted as a single file in PDF format
12. Print and online articles should be in a font size that is reasonably legible. For example, a broadsheet article that is reduced to fit onto a A3 or A4 PDF will not be suitable/acceptable as the copy of the news story may become illegible. Entrants are requested to give this due consideration before submitting their entries.
13. An active URL should be provided for online articles, audio podcasts or online videos. If the content sits behind a paywall or requires subscription access, it is the responsibility of the entrant to submit copies of the relevant online article/broadcast news report
14. Broadcast entries for video or audio material must be in MP4 format and sent via WeTransfer to Sumayah.booysen@sanlam.co.za.
15. Broadcast entries must include transcripts of the submitted story and a synopsis about each broadcast/recorded news story.
16. Unpublished news stories/reports will not be accepted
17. Entries submitted under pseudonyms will not be accepted
18. Submitted entries will not be returned