The Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), has announced that its portal will be open to applications for the 17th edition of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting (WSAIR) from Tuesday 4th of October to Monday 24 October 2022 by 4pm.
This was disclosed in a statement by the CEO of the Centre, Motunrayo Alaka. She said the award aims to honor reporters from various media categories. She also noted that the stories to be submitted must be newsworthy, expose corrupt activities and also promote human rights.
“This award seeks to honour works of reporters from the print, online, photo, editorial cartoon, television and radio categories which involve in-depth coverage of clandestine activities on public and or corporate corruption, human rights abuses, or regulatory failures in Nigeria. The stories must be newsworthy, investigative, expose or prevent clandestine activities and corruption in the public and private domain and promote human rights.”
Alaka revealed that entries will be assessed by a panel of media experts and will be collated using the award coding system of the WSCIJ, entries would be evaluated based on the quality of investigation, evidence, human rights elements, ethical reportage, courage, individual creativity, public interest, impact and presentation.
She urged the applicants to carefully read the entry requirements for each category.
“Entries will be collated using the award coding system of the WSCIJ and assessed by a panel of media experts and related professionals. Judges will score entries based on the quality of investigation, evidence, human rights elements, ethical reportage, courage, individual creativity, public interest, impact and presentation. Interested journalists should carefully read the entry requirements for each category.”
The award has held annually since 2005 and has produced 109 finalists, 56 Soyinka Laureates, and 12 investigative journalists of the year.
It has also made 26 honorary decorations for its Lifetime Award for Journalistic Excellence and the Anti-Corruption/Human Rights Defender Awards