[Reader-list] [Announcements] "Reporting on the Information Society" awards

[Shivam Vij]

TRANSPARENCY, GOOD GOVERNANCE AND DEMOCRACY: DO ICTs INCREASE
ACCOUNTABILITY?

Panos and GKP are pleased to call for submissions for the 2004
"Reporting on the Information Society" awards. The topic for this
year is "Transparency, good governance and democracy: Do Information
and Communication Technologies increase accountability?"

Four awards of $1,000 each will be made for the best journalism on
this topic produced by journalists in developing and transition
countries.

These awards, which were launched by Panos and GKP in 2003, aim to
encourage and bring to international recognition thoughtful and
incisive reporting that goes beyond describing information projects
or new investment initiatives to analyse their social and political
impacts and policy implications.

Print, radio, TV and web journalism are all eligible.

To submit a piece of work for consideration, send a clipping, audio
or video tape, transcript or web reference by email
mailto:award2004 at panos.org.uk or by post to: Murali Shanmugavelan,
Panos Institute, 9 White Lion St, London N1 9PD, UK

The work submitted must have been published/broadcast between 1
January and 15 October 2004.

Deadline for submissions: 15 October 2004.

******************************************
This year's theme:-

TRANSPARENCY, GOOD GOVERNANCE AND DEMOCRACY: DO ICTs INCREASE
ACCOUNTABILITY?

It is generally accepted by governments, communication specialists
and the development community that information and communication are
essential for development. The World Summit on the Information
Society (2003), for example, was convened "to harness the potential
of information and communication technology to promote the
development goals of the Millennium Declaration".

Among the most important ways information and communication
technologies (ICTs) can contribute to development are considered to
be encouraging information openness, speeding up processes of
exchange of information, and reducing opportunities for corruption.
Good governance, said the United Nations Human Development Report in
2001, depends on effective information systems, and is crucial to
achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

ICTs may contribute to good governance in different ways. There are
many formal "e-governance" projects, such as digitising land records
or voting procedures, which aim to facilitate citizens' access to
officialdom and reduce opportunities for corruption.  Citizens may
gain new opportunities for engaging in political processes, or for
holding public and commercial bodies accountable. On a more general
level, internet and email may
facilitate civil society networking and action. More broadly still,
there is a global movement for freedom of information, and many
governments and businesses are having to redefine their policies on
transparency.

But ICTs alone may not be enough to end deep-rooted habits or
political cultures of excluding citizens from access to information.
In some countries, governments are proving resistant to change, or
projects to improve access to information are reaching fewer people
than expected.

These are important issues for journalists to investigate and analyse.

Panos and GKP invite journalists from developing and transition
countries to submit work that has been or will be published this year
in their own country or internationally, on aspects of communication,
transparency and good governance. The work may focus on the role of
any technology-assisted communication medium - internet and web,
telephones, press, radio or TV.  It can be any form of journalism and
in any medium.


ABOUT US:

Panos London is an NGO which exists to stimulate debate on global
development issues, including media and communication issues. Panos
works with journalists in developing countries to produce news,
features and analysis about the most critical global issues of today.
Panos London is part of a network of Panos offices in fifteen
countries.

The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) is a worldwide network of
organizations committed to harnessing the potentials of information
and communication technologies (ICT) for sustainable development.
GKP is the world's first multi-stakeholder ICT for Development
(ICT4D) partnership at the global level, with members comprising
governments, donor agencies, private sector companies, civil society,
networks and international institutions.

SUBMISSION CRITERIA AND INSTRUCTIONS

§ Only journalists who are citizens of or living in developing or
transition countries may apply.
§ The work submitted can be a piece of print, radio, TV or online journalism.
§ A journalist can submit as many pieces as s/he likes.
§ Types of print/web article that will be considered include news
reports, features, analysis, interviews, opinion/think pieces, and
editorials. Broadcast pieces can also include debates and phone-in
programmes.
§ There is no maximum or minimum length
§ Submitted works should be stories or features relating to the
question of whether or how information and communication contribute
to transparency, good governance, democracy and accountability. The
story can focus on any technology-assisted communication medium, but
it will extend beyond merely reporting an event to analysing its
significance in the light of the wider development issues and the
concept of the information society.
§ We are interested in stories that take account of gender aspects.
§ The work must have been published or broadcast between January 1st
and October 15th 2004 (or publication/broadcast must be confirmed to
take place before October 15th 2004) and you must provide evidence of
this - a newspaper clipping, web reference or broadcasting schedule
(or details of broadcasting - station, time, date, name of programme).
§ Video material should be submitted in PAL format. Audio material
can be submitted on cassette, or as MP3 files.
§ Print or online submissions can be in English, French, Spanish or
Portuguese. Radio or audiovisual submissions in languages other than
English must be accompanied by a full transcript in English.

Please give the following information with your submission:

Name
Sex
Employment (eg "Business reporter with the Zambia Daily News")
Postal address
Email address
Telephone number

Your covering letter (in English, French, Spanish or Portuguese)
should give some information about the medium in which your
submission was published eg national or local newspaper, national or
community radio.

If your submission was originally in a non-European language, please
state what language it is in, and give some information about the
status and users of this language (eg "It is the language of the xx
people, who live in xxxx. This language is not the main language of
the state, but there is one newspaper and two radio stations that use
it.") Please indicate briefly some other stories about communication
issues that you would like to research and report on, for which you
might use the award if you received it. Reports that were
commissioned by Panos are not eligible for this award.

Panos will auto-acknowledge email entry/ies from each contestant. If
you do not receive one within 48 hours, please send your entries
again.

SELECTION CRITERIA

We will seek to make one award to a journalist from Africa, one to a
journalist from Asia and one from another region; we will seek to
award at least one to a woman journalist.

We are looking for journalism that builds understanding of the
importance of communication for development; and that stimulates
awareness of the impact of national and global communication policies
on development.

FOR MORE ABOUT THE AWARDS AND PANOS CLICK ON
<http://www.panos.org.uk/global/Rprojectdetails.asp?ProjectID=1045&ID=1002&RProjectID=1061>
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