Data Journalism Awards

The Data Journalism Awards is the first International contest recognising outstanding work in the field of data journalism worldwide. The six cash prizes for a total of 45,000 Euro will be awarded at the News World Summit, (30 May - 1st June 2012, Paris), and submissions are open until 10 April 2012. In a project that could easily be dubbed as the “Pulitzer prize of data journalism,” the competition covers three categories -- Data-driven investigative journalism; Data visualisation & storytelling; Data-driven applications (mobile or web) – and includes stories published or broadcast between 11 April 2011 and 10 April 2012.

The president of the jury is Paul Steiger, Editor-in-Chief of ProPublica, the non-profit investigative newsroom based in New York, and member of the <ahref Foundation’s scientific committee. Other jurors are top executives of prominent publishing ventures, such as Thomson Reuters, The New York Times, and Les Echos. Launched by the Global Editors Network in collaboration with the European Journalism Center and with support from Google, the contest includes also the Ahref Foundation among its media partners.

In particular, the competition seeks to contribute to setting high standards and highlighting the best practices in data journalism and to inspire journalists by showcasing outstanding work. Also important is to attract the attention of publishers and investors interested in promoting ventures focused on a full integration of journalism and technology skills. In this context, some innovative projects are ProPublica’s inquiry on school disparity (the “opportunity gap”) and the investigative report on property insurance – both concerning the US State of Florida – carried out by Paige Saint John of the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

For this latter report, Paige Saint John was awarded the 2011 Investigative Reporting Pulitzer Prize. She will be speaking at the upcoming International Journalism Festival in Perugia, Italy  (25-29 April 2012).