True Story Award 2027 for International Journalists ($20,000 Prize)
Brief Description
The True Story Foundation is officially accepting applications for the True Story Award 2027, an international competition designed to recognise outstanding written reporting by journalists across the globe. Presented during the opening of the True Story Festival, this prestige award honours exceptional work that demonstrates rigorous depth of research, narrative elegance, and meaningful societal relevance. If you have authored an exemplary piece of long-form reporting, this platform offers significant international visibility alongside a major cash prize. Winners selected across the competition’s three core categories will each receive USD $20,000. Whether your work uncovered hidden public dynamic changes, crafted a deeply moving narrative, or reshaped public policy discussions, you can submit your entry directly or through your editorial team to compete for this journalism award.
Name of Host Institution
True Story Foundation
Requirements/Eligibility Criteria
Open to professional journalists from around the world.
Eligible submissions must be written reports published between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026 in daily or weekly newspapers, magazines, or online outlets.
Submitted texts must be between 15,000 and 85,000 characters in length, including spaces.
Works must be based on genuinely researched events that meet rigorous journalistic standards.
Previously published books, unpublished manuscripts, purely factual texts, and academic works are strictly excluded.
Visual and audiovisual submissions are not eligible.
Each author may submit only one text, submitted either by the writer directly or by their editorial team.
Award Categories and Prizes
The main jury will select one winner in each of the following three categories, with each recipient awarded USD $20,000:
Research: Evaluates the depth and scope of journalistic research, time invested, data analysis, information acquisition difficulty, and personal or professional risks involved.
Storytelling: Evaluates feature writing quality, narrative elegance, structural composition, integration of facts with prose, and non-fiction literary merit.
Impact: Evaluates the societal response, news value, and potential long-term policy, political, or economic consequences generated by the published report.
Q: What text length and publication dates are required for submission?
Eligible texts must be between 15,000 and 85,000 characters (including spaces) and must have been published in a daily newspaper, weekly newspaper, magazine, or online outlet between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026.
Q: Can entries written in languages other than English be submitted?
Yes, entries can be submitted online directly in nine widely spoken languages, or submitted in English translation under specific regional categories such as Europe, World I (Africa and Middle East), and World II (South Asia and Southeast Asia).
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