The Orwell Society/NUJ Young Journalist’s Award 2023 open for entries
Are you a young journalist, full-time resident in the UK, studying for a journalism qualification or starting out on your journalism career and who would like to win a valuable and prestigious award?
If so, enter The Orwell Society/NUJ Young Journalist’s Award 2023, which offers a prize of £1,500 each for each winner of the two categories stipulated below. In addition, the student winners will each receive an NUJ membership. The runners-up in each category will receive a prize of £500 and winners and runners-up will also receive a three-year free membership of The Orwell Society.
George Orwell was one of the foremost writers of the twentieth century. Not only was he the author of Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, his oeuvre includes some of the greatest journalism of all time. Famously, he was also a member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the photo of his membership card has been reproduced for publications on his life and works. The image appears on this page, expressly to promote the Young Journalist’s Award, with the kind permission of The Orwell Estate and UCL Library, Special Collections.
The prestigious Young Journalist’s Award supports Orwell’s legacy and is also a great opportunity for up-and-coming journalists to boost their portfolios, CVs, profiles and industry networks.
You are eligible to enter if you are:
• a student journalist (i.e. a university undergraduate, post-graduate or a vocational trainee) or
• currently employed or self-employed as a journalist
• and in both cases, your date of birth falls in or after 1993 and you are a full-time resident in the UK.
Please show us why you should be declared the winner by completing the two tasks below. We look forward to seeing that you have standards and goals worthy of the annual Young Journalist’s Award.
After checking our judging criteria here** we ask you to submit the following tasks by 12:00 midnight on Monday 17th April 2023 to education@orwellsociety.com: There has been an extension of the deadline to: 12:00 midnight on 17/04/2023. The rationale for this is to allow students and others time to enter the competition during the university/Spring break.
• an arts review on a subject of your choice (e.g. book, film, play, art exhibition, etc) of no fewer than 600 and no more than 700 words. Your review should include a headline and an indication of the target audience/publication.
• OR a column on a political subject of your choice of no fewer than 600 and no more than 700 words. Your column should include a headline and an indication of the target audience/publication.*
• a reflection of no fewer than 250 and no more than 300 words, on how your review or column is informed by Orwell’s influence. You should explain which aspects of Orwell’s life and works have had an important bearing on your piece.
• a covering email to include the following: full name, address, date of birth, journalistic qualifications, and experience.
The judging panel will consist of:
• Richard Blair (Patron of The Orwell Society and Orwell’s son)
• Chair Dr Jaron Murphy (award-winning journalist and Principal Academic in Communication, Journalism and Literature; Bournemouth University) – See profile
• Ann Kronbergs (Education Trustee, The Orwell Society)
• Tam Hussein (prize-winning investigative journalist)
• Marverine Cole (award-winning broadcast journalist)
• Gary Younge (British journalist, author, broadcaster and Professor of Sociology; Manchester University)
• Frances Rafferty (NUJ representative)
• Nick Harris (2020 winner of the OS YJA)
We would strongly recommend that you familiarise yourself with examples of Orwell’s writing before entering this competition. The following preliminary reading list, consisting of 13 examples, offers a useful starting point:
Politics and the English Language (Horizon – 1944)
Inside the Whale (Inside the Whale – 1940)
Future of a Ruined Germany (The Observer – 1945)
Bertrand Russell, Power: A New Social Analysis (The Adelphi – 1939)
The Sporting Spirit – (Tribune – 1945)
You and the Atom Bomb (Tribune – 1945)
The Politics of Starvation (Tribune – 1946)
T.S. Eliot, Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (The Observer – 1948)
Wilde’s Utopia (The Observer – 1948)
Some Thoughts on the Common Toad (Tribune – 1946)
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (New English Weekly – 1940)
Confessions of a Book Reviewer (Tribune – 1946)
Homage to Catalonia (New 2022 Flame Tree Publishing edition with an introduction by Murphy, Dr. J.)
You can easily access most of these and further examples of Orwell’s writing at The Orwell Foundation’s website here:
Last year’s winning entries can be seen here:
2022 winning submission – “Sam Fender: The Canary in the Coal Mine?” by Meg Byrom
2022 winning submission – “The Cult of Personality of Elon Musk” by Quincy de Vries
The judges will not provide feedback to entrants, except to the winners and runners-up. The judges’ decision is final.
The Orwell Society reserves the right to first publication, and subsequent publication permissions, of the entries of the winners and runners-up. In recognition of the three years’ free membership of The Orwell Society, the winners and runners-up will perform ambassadorial and promotional duties with The Orwell Society.
Submission Rules:
All submissions should be in a Word file (not PDF) and begin with a cover page providing your name, date of birth, name of university, name of programme studying on with start and finish dates, and full contact details (address, telephone etc). The two tasks should be presented in 12 pt Times Roman double spaced – with each page numbered and each one should end with a word count.
*JUDGING CRITERIA
1. Subject Knowledge (25%) – Demonstration of knowledge and understanding of the chosen subject. Attention to details which are both valid and relevant such as terms/concepts, theories, events, people, contexts and information. Depth and range of research and comprehension indicated by judicious incorporation of facts/quotes and pertinent definitions/explanations.
2. Intellectual Skills (25%) – Ability to articulate a clear and compelling position through cogent and coherent argumentation. Analysis and evaluation rather than mere description. Questioning and critical thinking rather than assumptions and platitudes. Overall command and synthesis of ideas and reasoning.
3. Subject-Specific Skills (25%) – Substantiation of points and arguments by reference to relevant examples. Marshalling of evidence to illustrate and illuminate. Credible sources and underpinnings rather than dubious claims and unsupported opinion.
4. Transferrable Skills (25%) – Standard of language usage (including grammar, punctuation, spelling and diction) as well as writing style (including expression, clarity, fluency and power). Structure supporting logical and methodical progression. Adherence to the specified word count and form of journalism.
OUTCOMES RANGE
Exceptional: 80%+
Excellent: 70-79%
Very good: 60-69%
Good: 50-59%
Basic: 40-49%
Insufficient: 0-39%