United States
Foundation offers prize for preventive journalismPosted Jul 20 2007
A Journalists who report problems before they become disasters over the next year could win the first ever Prize for Preventive Journalism from the foundation Understanding Government, reported Charles Peters on Poynter.org.
The prize will be $50,000, enough money, Peters says, to “wake reporters and editors up to the crucial importance of finding out what's wrong in time to keep bad things from happening.” Other reasons to offer the prize include encouraging journalists to counter budget cuts that lessen coverage of government agencies and helping them get over the perceived boredom of investigating critical governmental bodies like FEMA.
The most significant characteristic that sets preventive journalism apart from investigative or explanatory journalism is explaining not only what is wrong but also why, says Peters.
Submissions for the award are to be sent to Understanding Government and will be accepted through till 30 June 2008. The award will be given the following September.
For a discussion on the importance of this award, click here
Applications can be sent to http://understandinggov.org/?p=574 .