Rwanda Data Journalism Award (RDJA) - Fifth Edition 2022

1. Background and competition overview

Every year, the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) organizes a data storytelling competition that invited Rwandan journalists to submit their data-driven stories for the award.

 It is the NISR's initiative to recognize outstanding works in the field of data journalism in Rwanda. The objective of this award is to promote excellence and creativity in the reporting of statistics-based stories to the Rwandan public in this data revolution era when journalistic reportage requires practices that include statistical analyses, interpretations, and visualization to tell complex and sensitive stories in a simple and convincing way.

The stories are in three categories; Radio, Online or internet published, and TV. The awards are given to exemplary data-driven stories from those categories that use data to have a good impact on society. The winners will be announced and awarded in December 2022, during the celebration of African Statistics Day.

2. Competition Message:

The journalists are invited to submit their data stories related to women and children. Those stories must be published between January 2021 and November 2022.

3. CATEGORIES awarded

Category One: Excellence in Online Data story

Description: Best interactive or static visualization combined with a story that accomplishes a journalistic purpose and uses data significantly in online media.

Open to individual journalists (online)

  • First Prize: Certificate and Laptop
  • Second Prize: Certificate and Tablet

Category Two: Excellence in Radio Data story

Description: Best data-driven journalism in radio news stories.

Open to individual journalists (Radio)

  • First Prize: Certificate and Laptop
  • Second Prize: Certificate and Tablet

Category Three: Excellence in TV Data story

Description: Best data-driven journalism on TV news stories or programs.

Open to individual journalists (TV).

  • First Prize: Certificate and Laptop
  • Second Prize: Certificate and Tablet

RDJA 2022 ELIGIBILITY

  • We actively seek submissions from online and broadcast journalists and bloggers. Entries can have been published, broadcasted, or aired in English, Kinyarwanda, or in French, and must have appeared between 1st January 2021 and   30th November 2022.
  • Individual journalists and freelancers in accredited media houses are eligible for the Data Journalism Awards. Works produced by individuals or teams of journalists from media companies and non-profit organizations, as well as freelancers or individuals are all eligible for entry.
  • Works produced by staffers or freelancers collaborating with government agencies, businesses, or trade organizations with a stake (financial or of other nature) in the issue at hand are not eligible. In other words, the awards are not given to business data visualizations or projects produced for branding purposes.
  • The RDJA administrators have the final authority to determine whether an entry is eligible or not.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Applicants must be Rwandan citizens or permanent residents, and the submitted work must have appeared in an accredited Rwandan-based media between 1st January 2021 and   30th November 2022.

The following two points describe a set of criteria that will be considered in the evaluation of the submissions in all categories:

  1. Easy of understanding what the data is saying by enabling greater public understanding of a particular topic through accurate data representation, visual elegance, creativity, originality, and uniqueness of informative infographics, or other visualization techniques used to present data in a journalistic story or program.
  2. The content should be people-centered by linking data to human lives and welfare, and have a good balance of subjectivity and objectivity.
  3. Impact of the entry on improving the understanding of the population of the data and on its general contribution to increasing statistical literacy amongst Rwandans through accessible analysis, explanation, and statistical conceptualization used in a story or program.
  4. Quality of content, and variety of subjects covered.
  5. All the data quoted should clearly indicate the year and source of the data.

ENTRY INFORMATION

  1. Entries are allowed to have been published or aired on any media platform (Online, print, radio, and TV)
  2. All entries must be accompanied by a submission form that includes:
  • Description of the entry, less than 100 words
  • Biography of the writer(s), less than 100 words
  • Confirmation of the date published
  1. Entry Formats:
  • Online:  link to the online article or newspaper radio or podcast:  link to mp3 file either through an active URL or an archived link 
  • Television/YouTube/other video:  link to an active URL  
  1. All submission forms must be filled in English. Entries in languages other than English will be accepted if they are accompanied by thorough explanations of the work in English in submission form. If a work originally published in a language other than English passes the pre-jury selection stage, applicants may be asked to provide additional information and translations if possible.
  2. There is no submission fee.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURES AND DEADLINES

  • The competition's submissions will close on 30th November 2022 at 23:59 GMT.
  • Submission entries through Links or URLS should be made through an online submission form accessible from the NISR website by 30th November 2022, at 23:59 GMT.

Winners in Three categories (Online, radio, and TV) will be announced and awarded during the celebration of African Statistics Day in December 2022.

Submit your entry  

Questions can be emailed to datastorytelling.competition@statistics.gov.rw or Call 0788216358