Are you an aspiring young journalist?

Scoop Media, publisher of The Scoop, is partnering with the ASEAN Foundation to host the 2019 ASEAN Youth Social Journalism competition.

Talented ASEAN youth are invited to create fact-based and compelling messages through media platforms showcasing the importance of reliable and transparent governance in ASEAN and its member states.

Contestants are invited to submit an essay exploring the importance of responsive and transparent government in their day-to-day lives, promoting the ideals of fairness, equity, and transparency in their communities and at the ASEAN level.

Based on their essay submissions, up to 20 youth will be selected (two from each ASEAN member state) to participate in a four-day social journalism workshop in Brunei Darussalam in September 2019. Here they will develop and implement a social awareness activity in their respective countries.

A “social journalist” is a member of the general public who is interested making a positive contribution to their community by collecting and disseminating and/or publishing news and information based upon their observations, research, or through other means. Through this initiative, we invite active young social journalists to produce and publish content related to the above theme and its impact on youth.

This contest is organised by the ASEAN Foundation and ASEAN-USAID PROSPECT, a joint project of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and US State Department. The competition is supported by The Scoop, a multimedia news platform based in Brunei Darussalam.

Who can apply?

  1. Any existing or aspiring social journalist that holds an ASEAN member country passport (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and resides in the country of citizenship. Note: professional journalists who are full-time employees of established media outlets are not eligible to compete).
  2. Applicants must be between 18 and 30 years of age on June 30, 2019.
  3. Selected finalists must have a valid passport allowing them to travel to Brunei Darussalam and must be able to communicate fluently in both spoken and written English.
  4. Selected finalists must have active Facebook and Gmail accounts for ease of communication with the trainer and other participants.

How to apply?

  1. Write an individual essay on the selected theme described above, explaining the theme, why it is important for youth in ASEAN, how it is relevant in your own life. Essays must contain a maximum of 600 words, use 12-point Times New Roman font and be double spaced.
  2. In a separate document, list any supporting references to existing publications or sources that support the information in the essay. Such references can be in any format, such as text, photos, infographics and audio/video. This document will be uploaded as part of the application package.
  3. Visit www.aseanyouthsjcontest.com, complete the application form bit.ly/AYSJ2019 and upload the two attachments: 1) essay and 2) supporting references.

Deadline for applications:

30 June 2019 at 23:59 pm Jakarta/Bangkok time

Application process and evaluation criteria

A selected panel of judges will evaluate your essay submission. The selection criteria are outlined below:

  1. Clarity of ideas: The essay clearly demonstrates an understanding of the theme and why it is important to youth in ASEAN Community.
  2. Creativity: The essay is written in a creative and compelling way with a thoughtful approach from youth perspective.
  3. Potential reader impact: The essay conveys personal or aspirational thoughts that are inspiring to viewers.

Following the evaluation process, the 20 finalists will be selected to participate in a social journalism workshop in Brunei Darussalam in September 2019.

What to expect in the workshop?

  1. The two selected finalists from each ASEAN Member State will be paired as a team representing their country.
  2. During the workshop, each country team will develop one agreed upon activity proposal to raise the awareness and address the above-mentioned theme related to ASEAN and in their home country and pitch this proposal to the trainer and judges.
  3. The trainer and judges will evaluate the proposal pitches and provide feedback to the finalists.

What happens after the workshop?

Following the workshop, each team will be required to implement their proposed activity to attract public engagement. Each team will be required to submit content posts (e.g: news articles, photos, videos, etc.) in English to be evaluated and published on the ASEAN Social Journalism Facebook Page. Activity and content will then be evaluated based on several indicators such as the amount of content published, the diversity of the content format, the frequency of the publication of the content, and audience engagement. Following the evaluation, the top three teams will be announced to receive attractive prizes to support the sustainability of the activity.

Copyright

By submitting an entry to the contest, participants agree to grant ASEAN, ASEAN Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and the U.S. Mission to ASEAN the right to reproduce, distribute, display, and create derivative works of the entry in any media at any time.