By Brainbox News
The Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF) has announced the opening of entries for the 2026 AMDF Journalist of the Year Award, inviting professional and freelance journalists across Africa to submit compelling, development-focused stories.
The award, according to AMDF, is aimed at recognising outstanding journalism that highlights major development issues affecting Africans while demonstrating quality reporting, strong writing, logical presentation and professional integrity.
In a call for entries signed by the Executive Director of AMDF, Sekyen Dadik, the organisation stated that submitted works must be original, development-focused stories centred on Africans.
The stories must have been first published or broadcast in an African medium or Africa-focused medium between September 1, 2025, and August 31, 2026.
The award features five categories: Television, Radio, Photography, Online and Print.
AMDF explained that television and radio entries must include the newscaster’s introduction, the link to the reporter and the story through the cue-out.
For online entries, applicants are required to submit the web link to the published story, while print entries must include a clean and clear scanned PDF copy of the original publication.
Photography entrants are expected to submit links to photographs published online, scanned copies of print publications where applicable, and the original photographs.
The organisation further stated that each entrant is permitted to submit only one entry. All works must be in English and must be accompanied by the journalist’s current curriculum vitae, a high-resolution passport photograph and a cover statement of not more than 400 words.
The cover statement is expected to explain the background to the story, the issues that informed the topic, unusual experiences encountered during the reporting process and challenges that affected the content but were not included in the original report.
Past recipients of the AMDF Journalist of the Year Award, AMDF employees and their immediate family members are not eligible to participate.
A panel of judges comprising professionals with relevant competencies in journalism will oversee the adjudication process. The judges reserve the right to disqualify entries or finalists where questions arise concerning the authenticity, accuracy or integrity of submitted works or participants.
The winner and runner-up will be announced during the 2026 Africa Conference on Development Journalism (#ACDJ2026), scheduled for December 2–4, 2026, in Kaduna, Nigeria.
The deadline for submission is 11:59 p.m. on September 30, 2026.
Interested journalists are required to submit their entries through the official application form:
https://forms.gle/vP53jN8aiNoCMP9TA
Enquiries may be directed to [email protected].
The Africa Media Development Foundation provides professional support to media and sustainable development initiatives.
Signed:
Sekyen Dadik
Executive Director
Africa Media Development Foundation
