The Council of Europe’s Roma and Travellers team is putting out a call for applications for the Journalism Excellence Awards, as part of the EQUIROM project, an EU-Council of Europe joint programme. The Awards seek to frame Roma communities in a positive light in the media. It supports the EU’s goal of encouraging a stereotype-free image of marginalised groups in order to change people's assumptions.

Applications are open to all journalists from the Council of Europe member states, including photographers, television journalists, and reporters.

Awards will be given to five journalism categories. These include photojournalism, investigative journalism, the best Interview, the best coverage of a global event, and an award for Young Journalists. The winners will receive a prize of €2000 during a ceremony that will take place on June 18, 2024, in Strasbourg.

Don’t wait to apply, the deadline is April 9 2024!

About EQUIROM:

The “Equality and Freedom from Discrimination for Roma” (EQUIROM) programme is a joint initiative by the European Union and the Council of Europe. This collaborative project aims to advance equality for Roma people in four Southern European countries: Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and Italy.

The objectives of EQUIROM are based around three dimensions. These are fighting stereotypes perpetuated in the media, promoting a greater mutual understanding, and empowering Roma women and youth in the fight against antigypsyism. These goals entail increasing the public’s knowledge of Roma culture and history, such as the Romani Holocaust, and helping journalists create positive narratives by building bridges with members of the Roma civic societies.

To that end, EQUIROM has developed three kinds of activities. These revolve around training journalists to improve the public’s image of Roma people, leading communication campaigns, and making policy-oriented activities aimed at bringing public authorities and members of the civil society together.

If you are interested, you can find out more about the Journalism Excellence Awards, and the EQUIROM project.