The awards say that it wants to hear from people on how the changing climate and extreme weather events impact the lives of ordinary South Africans.
The Climate Media Awards say that it offers an opportunity to highlight the vital role that community content creators and local journalists play in sharing local stories about how changing weather patterns affect them and what changes they make to handle them.
Africa and South Africa are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Changing climate conditions and extreme weather events — such as droughts, floods and heat waves — have both immediate and lasting effects on how people live their lives, say the awards.
According to the awards, this comprises:
- crops fail or need to be changed
- homes and infrastructure such as roads are destroyed
- insurance costs go up, and
- many people can no longer consistently grow their own food.
The Climate Media Awards say that it is open to anyone who creates content that highlights how their communities — and any businesses or individuals in them — are affected by changing weather patterns and how they deal with the impact of climate change and energy scarcity.
The awards are open to any content creators and are not limited to formally trained journalists. The awards are presented in three categories across isiZulu, Afrikaans and English.
The awards say that it is being hosted by Scrolla.Africa, with a panel of judges including Africa Melane from CapeTalk / 702 and Business Day's Tiisetso Motsoeneng.
"Community media reporting of climate change is crucial — to take what used to be an elite debate into an everyday discussion for the ordinary person," says Zukile Majova, Political Editor at Scrolla.Africa.
"We are no longer talking about global warming as some event that is coming 50 years from now. We are living with the effects of global warming and climate change in villages and townships in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the Western Cape," adds Majova.
"Good community journalism on the subject must include diverse opinions, go beyond the science and must reflect on the urgency of the situation," Majova says.
The Climate Media Awards are open to freelance reporters or employees working with traditional local media, digital platforms and community radio stations.
According to the awards, the four categories comprise:
- Best audio or video — on any platform or local station
- Best written article — print, or on any South African site
- Best social media post — on any platform, and
- Judges Wildcard.
The Climate Media Awards say that prizes for each category is:
- first: R15 000
- second: R10 000
- third: R5 000, and
- Wild card award: R10 000.
How to Enter
Journalists, producers and content creators should submit their entries from September 2024. Entries can be in isiZulu, Afrikaans and English.
The Climate Media Awards concludes that the closing date for entries is Saturday, 30 November and articles posted, printed or broadcast at any time in 2024 are eligible for the awards.
Individuals are encouraged to enter here.
For more information, visit www.scrolla.africa. You can also follow the Climate Media Awards on X, or on Instagram.
*Image courtesy of X