Journalism competition shows HIV still high on the public agenda
29 July 2008
An overwhelming response to the Guardian International Development Journalism Competition from amateur and professional journalists has shown that HIV is still high on the public agenda.
HIV was the second most popular topic of the eight development issues journalists could choose to write about, coming closely behind issues concerning children in the developing world.
Executive Director, Alvaro Bermejo said, “It’s encouraging to see the positive response to the competition. We’re pleased with the high numbers of people writing about HIV. It shows the issue is still high on the public agenda. We wish the finalists the best of luck in the next stages.”
This innovative competition was launched in March this year by the Guardian newspaper, UK Department for International Development, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance and seven other non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The competition is now reaching its final stages with the announcement of 16 finalists – eight amateur journalists and eight professional journalists – on 1 August.
Douglas Alexander, UK Secretary of State for International Development, said “I am delighted there were so many entries to the competition and that the standard of articles was so high. This highlights the UK public’s growing interest in global poverty issues relating to international development. I look forward to reading the winning submissions in due course.”
In just four months the competition microsite on the Guardian Unlimited website has had phenomenal throughput and ‘dwell time’ for a microsite.
Julian Rose, head of advertising and sponsorship at Guardian Professional said, “…there were over 16,000 visitors who spent far longer than usual on a site of this type. We have also been very impressed by the number of entries, especially given the nature of the competition and the length of the article required.”
In the next stage of the competition, two finalists who are chosen to write on HIV will travel to Alliance projects in Africa (Uganda and Zambia) and India in September.
The trip finalists will also have a chance to meet and talk to local people, government and other officials and NGO workers. On their return to the UK they will be able to complete their assignment, an in-depth newspaper feature.
The winners – one professional journalist and one amateur – will be announced in November when all the final assignments will be published by the Guardian newspaper in special supplements.
The other NGO partners in the project are: Marie Stopes International, Camfed International, HelpAge International, Malaria Consortium, Plan UK, Sightsavers International and WaterAid.
You can view the 16 finalists’ articles, including three on HIV, at: www.guardian.co.uk/developmentcompetition.
