The Maldives Media Council (MMC) has extended the deadline to submit nominations for the Journalism Awards 2023.
MMC opened nominations on June 8 and initially decided to close nominations on July 2. However, the council has now decided to accept nominations until July 23.
MMC hosts the Journalism Awards every year to recognise and uphold the work of individuals who show excellence and make valuable contributions to the field of journalism. The objectives of the award include encouraging Maldivian journalists by awarding them in a fair and equitable manner and recognise individuals in the field who work to uphold standards and maintain trust among journalists.
The awards will be presented to journalists in 12 of the news article and broadcasting categories this year. The fields include investigative journalism, the social sector, the legal and judicial sector, the business sector, and the sports sector. Awards will also be given for the field of photo journalism, video journalism, graphics and illustrations, as well as for best feature, most promising journalist and journalist of the year.
The nominees, except for most promising journalist and journalist of the year, are required to be journalists who worked at a registered media company. In addition, journalists can only be nominated for one of the fields, except for best feature, most promising journalist and journalist of the year.
Current members and employees of MMC are not eligible to apply for the award and journalists can only be nominated if they have worked for a minimum of nine months between January 1 and December 31 last year. The relevant application forms and guidelines are available at the council’s website. Moreover, the council will approve a panel consisting of at least seven judges to fairly evaluate the submissions for the various fields. The judges will possess relevant education and experience in the respective fields.