Elizabeth O'Neill Journalism Award
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australia-Indonesia Institute invite applications by 1 November 2012 for the Elizabeth O'Neill Journalism Award. The Award is open to high achieving early or mid-career journalists.
Background
The Elizabeth O'Neill Journalism Award commemorates the distinguished career of Elizabeth O’Neill OAM who died in service of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Indonesia on 7 March 2007. The Award builds on her tireless work to foster mutual understanding of Australia and Indonesia through accurate and informed media coverage.
The Elizabeth O'Neill Journalism Award will involve one journalist from Indonesia and Australia each year. The Award is open to journalists from print, radio, television and online media organisations.
The Award will cover:
- business class international airfares and domestic transfers from the participant’s home city; and
- accommodation, internal transport, visas and meal allowances.
The award will not cover the cost of travel for dependents, translators, a camera-person or other technical support people. Successful applicants will be responsible for having an up-to-date passport.
Nomination
The successful applicant will be selected from nominations received from individual journalists and media organisations. Applicants must be Australian citizens resident in Australia or Indonesian citizens resident in Indonesia.
Nominations should include the following information:
- Completion of application form, including description of proposed stories:
- A brief CV/biography with photo
- Reference letter preferably from your current employer (including your experience, influence, capacity to meet program objectives)
Selection criteria
The broad criteria against which applicants will be assessed are:
- The relevance and unique qualities of the stories proposed by the applicant including how the stories inform audiences about the Australia-Indonesia bilateral relationship
- The applicant’s personal and professional experience, and how they see the Award as furthering their personal and professional objectives
- Agreement for publication or broadcast of the applicant’s stories including outlet and audience reach
- How the applicant plans to develop and sustain relationships with counterparts and contacts established during the Award program.
Australian nominations should be emailed to oneill.award@dfat.gov.au and Indonesian nominations should be emailed to public-affairs-jakt@dfat.gov.au by COB Thursday 1 November 2012.
A selection panel in Canberra will choose the successful Australian and Indonesian participant. The panel will comprise representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian media. We expect the successful Award recipients will be announced in December 2012.
The successful applicant must be available to travel between March and April 2013.
Program
The Award recipient will spend up to two weeks in Indonesia/Australia on a fully funded program coordinated by the Public Diplomacy and Information Branch of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and organised and supported by the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.
The program aims to build a stronger understanding and appreciation of the broad range of issues facing contemporary Indonesia and Australia. The program will be tailored to the journalist’s area of expertise and reporting responsibilities in such areas as foreign and trade policy, development assistance, people-to-people links and education. The program includes a stay in the country’s capital city (Jakarta/Canberra) with visits to at least another province/state/territory of the country visited.
Meetings may include:
- local media organisations, both commercial and government-owned;
- a reciprocal visit to the employer of the host country participant ;
- academic institutions, including those with specialist journalism and communications courses;
- media industry regulators and umbrella organisations;
- government and parliamentary officials and access to ministers (where possible); and
- leading civil society and NGO figures.
Participants are encouraged to act as international correspondents for their home agency and to file stories during their participation in the program.
Evaluation
On completion of the Award program, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade/Australian Embassy will meet participants to evaluate the program outcomes.
Participants will be required to provide a short report outlining:
- what the participant gained from the program;
- how the participant’s views were changed by the program; and
- suggestions for improving the program.
