The clock is ticking. It’s now 50 days left to submit your work to the AIPS Sport Media Awards 2022, the fifth edition of the most prestigious international prize for sports journalists.
BASICS The AIPS Sport Media Awards offer recognition to the best storytellers across all media platforms, from photography to video, from print to digital, and more than 150 countries have been represented in the first four editions.
Here’s a quick recap.
1) Participation in the Awards is completely free and each individual has two submissions available.
2) The participation period for the current edition goes from November 5, 2021 to October 14, 2022. All works first published/broadcast in that period will be considered valid.
3) The podium winners for each category will receive 8,000 Dollars (1st placed), 3,000 dollars (2nd placed) or 2,000 dollars (3rd placed). The three Young Reporters’ winners will earn a scholarship at a top international sporting event.
4) There are no restrictions for languages. All languages are accepted in the submissions. We recommend English translation where applicable, or a script in the original language for video and audio works.
5) All works must be submitted directly using our website, www.aipsawards.com, the only valid platform for accepting submissions.
CATEGORIES Senior categories are divided between Writing, Photography, Audio, Video. There’s also an optional category for young journalists: Young Reporter Under 30.
6) Writing has two subcategories: Best Column and Best Colour Piece.
7) Photography has two subcategories: Action Picture and Portfolio
8) Video has three possibilities: Short Feature Video (Up to 10 minutes), Athlete Profile (longer than 10 minutes) and Documentary (longer than 10 minutes)
9) Audio has a dedicated category featuring radio and podcasts.
10) There are two special categories not open for submissions: Investigative reporting and A life in sport.
PHOTOGRAPHY This category is reserved for professional photographers, and the pictures must be taken during the valid period of participation (November 5, 2021, to October 14, 2022).
11) Action Picture: An image that depicts a moment of excellence or athletic skill from a particular sporting event. One photo only.
12) Portfolio: A portfolio of at least three but no more than five sports photos. These photos may be from the same sport or same event, or they may be from different events and different sports.
13) A photograph may not be entered more than once i.e. a photo entered into the Action category cannot be entered into the Portfolio category and vice-versa.
14) The proof of publication can be a link to an agency, a newspaper or a personal website.
15) For more information, please check our Photography FAQs here. https://www.aipsmedia.com/index.html?page=artdetail&art=31584
WRITING Dedicated to the best sport storytellers from across the world, the written categories include print and digital.
16) Best Column: An article that shows a knowledgeable opinion and that demonstrates research, relevance, authority and an original view on a topic.
17) Best Colour Piece: An article that captures the emotion of an occasion in and around the sporting world, and that shows preparation, creativity, outstanding reporting and a flair for storytelling.
18) There is no word limit for submissions as long as they are articles. Books, book chapters and excerpts are not accepted (unless published as articles).
19) Proof of publication for online articles could be a link with the date visible. For print articles, a PDF of the newspaper/magazine is required, or a link with the article, if it was also published online, with the date visible.
20) For more information on Writing, please check our Writing FAQs here. https://www.aipsmedia.com/aips/pages/articles/2022/32629.html
VIDEO From clips crafted for TV and social media environments to sports films, all producers, directors, anchors and reporters can choose the category that suits them best.
21) Short Feature: A video shorter than 10 minutes in length on any sporting subject with strong storytelling, innovative filming and journalistic relevance.
22) Athlete profile: A video longer than 10 minutes that portrays a captivating, in-depth image of an athlete or a prominent and relevant sport figure.
23) Documentary: A video longer than 10 minutes that tells a compelling and revealing story about any aspect of the sport world, showing qualitative research and editorial input combined with quality filmmaking.
24) All videos should be uploaded into the platform of AIPS Sport Media Awards in a valid video format or a link. If videos can be found online, please provide a fully accessible link (ie. not behind a paywall) and provide a password if applicable.
25) A video published on a video sharing platform will be considered valid as long as it complies with the rest of the Rules.
AUDIO
26) Audio category submissions can be either a radio report, podcast, piece of commentary or other audio submission that is not only compelling but also displays some technical innovation and quality research.
27) Just as in video and writing, team entries are accepted as long as participants are specified in the description. (However, in the event of qualifying to the final, only one will represent the team in the ceremony).
28) In the event of qualifying for the final, a full transcript of the audio in its original language could be asked to the entrant.
29) If your podcast is split into episodies, you are kindly asked to choose one episode to represent the entire series. You can specify in the description how many episodes were presented and what the other topics were.
30) If audios can be found online, please provide a fully accessible link (ie. not behind a paywall).
YOUNG REPORTERS UNDER 30 This category was created for the second edition of the Awards, showing an immediate positive repercussion among the younger generations and crown one winner for each of the three categories.
31) The Young Reporter category is open to professionals that are under 30 (born on or after January 1, 1993).
32) If you opt to participate in the Young Reporters categories, you will be competing for a scholarship at a top international sporting event chosen by AIPS.
33) The three categories are Photography, Writing and Broadcasting (Audio & Video).
34) Only one file (one picture, one article or one video/audio) will be accepted per submission.
35) Out of the two submissions per person, only one can be used to compete in the Young Reporter category.
JUDGING AND JURY All works are screened and then voted in four different stages before the final decision.
36) A panel of 6 AIPS mentors and specialists makes the first assessment and creates a longlist. The rest of the Jury members and EC members participate in this selection and can suggest additions (first phase).
37) The 24 AIPS Executive Committee members then meet to evaluate the longlist and vote their 10 preferences on each category, producing a shortlist (second phase). A jury of 11 relevant members of the sport media industry, plus AIPS president Gianni Merlo as president of the jury, narrows the shortlist into a top 10 (finalists, third phase), and then top 3 (podium nominees, fourth phase). The day before, the jury will meet and vote the winners (fifth phase).
38) Jurors’ names and their career expertise in sport journalism are accessible here https://www.aipsawards.com/jurors
39) The works that qualify for the next round will be announced towards the beginning of next year, while the final ceremony will take place in 2023.
40) After the ceremony, AIPS also publishes the list of the most voted works per category by continent, a valuable contribution to highlight the importance of the quality based on the nationality of the participants.
SUBMITTING PROCESS It is easy and it doesn’t take more than 10 minutes.
41) In order to submit your work journalists and photographers are required to sign up and create a profile at www.aipsawards.com, which is as easy as signing up for an email account. Simply choose ‘LOGIN’ and then ‘Create new account’.
42) Once logged in, you need to click “Add submission”. Select category and sub-category. Put a title, description and upload link, pdf or file. Submit
43) You can create a second submission by repeating the procedure. Be aware that you need to repeat the process for a second submissions. We don’t accept two submissions in one form.
44) Please notice that you can make amendments of your submissions in the future, changing all fields except for ‘category’ and ‘sub-category’.
45) You can select if your work is in English and, if not, if you’ve submitted your English translation. If you haven’t, then the submission will be first screened by a native speaker of the AIPS panel of experts, plus the AIPS national associations, based on the original language.
SPECIAL COMMENDATIONS The celebration of sport media excellence happens every day, but the gala is a special, emotional night every year, with live broadcast via TV and YouTube/Facebook Live.
46) In January 2019, the first edition had its gala in Lausanne, the Olympic capital and headquarters of AIPS. IOC president Thomas Bach delivered the opening speech of the Awards ceremony. The second edition took place in Budapest in February 2020, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino taking the stage and congratulating the winners. The third edition was an online ceremony from the Vigevano castle, in Italy, given the difficult circumstances of the pandemic. The fourth edition had its final ceremony at Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, in June 2021.
47) You can check the previous winners of the two editions here. 2018 Edition, Lausanne ceremony: https://www.aipsawards.com/podium. 2019 Edition, Budapest ceremony: https://www.aipsawards.com/podium2020. 2020 Edition, Vigevano ceremony: https://www.aipsawards.com/podium2021. 2021 Edition, Doha ceremony: https://www.aipsawards.com/podium2022
48) On top of the final rankings and continental rankings, special mentions awarded by AIPS were introduced in 2020, highlighting the works and effort during the worst part of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, special commendations and honorary mentions were given to certain works that represents some of the core values of AIPS, including Human Rights, Inclusion, Clean Sports, Access to Sources, and Sport as a cultural tool promoting peace and solidarity.
49) If you have any questions about how to submit, please write to us in our social media channels or by email at info@aipsawards.com
50) 50 days to submit, don’t miss out! You can add your name to the podium of Sport Media Excellence.
Credit: AIPS Media
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