$10,000 Concentra Award Entries Due 1/22

The Concentra Award 2010, for global excellence in videojournalism, is now open for entries. The $10,000 prize is awarded annually "to a journalist who, in terms of both substance and production, produced an interesting news item which was broadcast or published on a news website."

"By awarding this prize, 'Concentra Media' aims to promote healthy competition between the various makers of television news items. Concentra also wishes to stimulate journalists to film and edit their own pieces, so they master the entire production process themselves."

Last year's winner was Alexandra Garcia from the Washington Post for her story “The Healing Fields,” which is showcased on KobreGuide.com .

Deadline for Concentra entries is January 22, 2010. The award ceremony will take place on March 30, 2010 in Antwerp, Belgium.

LINKS:

About Concentra

Rules & Regulations

Entry Form (pdf)

Concentra: And The Winner Is...

Congratulations to Washington Post videojournalist Alexandra Garcia, winner of the Concentra Award for Videojournalism for 2009. KobreGuide previously showcased her entry, "The Healing Fields," which chronicles three days when more than 800 volunteer health-care workers come to Wise County, Virginia, to provide free medical care to those who cannot afford it.

Jury chair Michael Rosenblum reports:

The 10,000 Euro prize, along with the statue will be awarded to her as soon as she returns from her current shooting assignment in Botswana. We were, however, able to Skype her live into the conference for the awards ceremony so she could directly address the audience.

The quality of the shooting, the reporting, the editing and the story telling were all outstanding. A stellar achievement for the VJ who until only a few years ago had never even touched a video camera. What made this particularly impressive is that she is a full time newspaper journalist.

View all 8 Concentra finalists here.


The Healing Fields - Alexandra Garcia, winner of the Concentra Award.

Concentra Videojournalism Finalists

Here are the 8 finalists for the Concentra Videojournalism Award. The 10,000 Euro ($12,722 USD) prize will be presented next week in Brussels.



"On the Margins in Mauritania"
Travis Fox, Washington Post, USA




"Two Criminals on a Motorbike"
Stef Biemans, VPRO, Netherlands




"Up the Irrawaddy"
Subina Shrestha, Al Jazeera, Dubai




The Agony of Surviving
Travis Fox, Washington Post, USA




Taking Back the Streets
Bernard Weil, TheStar.com, Canada




The Healing Fields
Alexandra Garcia, Washington Post, USA




The Lost Tribe Secret Army of the CIA
Tony Birtley, Al Jazeera, Malaysia




A Man Chases His Money
Behrendt Carsten, ZDF, Germany


For this year's competition The Concentra Award received 114 entries from 46 news organizations from around the world. Final judging of the 8 nominated entries will take place on March 3 in Brussels.

Jury chairman Michael Rosenblum reports: :

There are 7 judges on the panel, all from various backgrounds and countries, so there were a lot of varied opinions as to what best exemplifies the world’s best video journalism. At the top end, it gets very subjective.

We are all looking forward to the Digital News Affairs Conference conference in Brussels. It has not been an easy year to put this together. The economic recession caused many sponsors to drop out, even after they had committed. Many participants found themselves unable to attend - their parent companies now unwilling to allow them to go. Many of our brother conferences simply folded tents this year and canceled. We were determined not to do so.

Notably, three of the finalists were produced by the Washington Post -- and two of those by Travis Fox, whose work is well represented on KobreGuide. The third Washington Post video, Alexandra Garcia's "The Healing Fields," was previously showcased on KobreGuide.com.