Merck More Than a Mother Media Recognition Awards Call for Entries

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Organisers of the Merck More Than a Mother Media Recognition Awards have called for applications from prospective contestants.

The awards will honour and reward outstanding journalistic coverage that enhances the public’s engagement and understanding of infertility stigma and the need to change the social perception of it in African communities.

According to the Chief Social Officer of Merck Healthcare and President of ‘Merck More than a Mother’, Dr Rasha Kelej, “We have established this award in partnership with Africa Fertility Society to showcase and appreciate outstanding health journalism and to recognize individual professional journalists and students who have produced accurate, informative, and compelling stories about infertile women or couples.”

The stories targeted are those of infertile women sharing their suffering and abuse by their husbands, families or communities due to their condition.

Organisers believe it is very critical to share these stories with the public to build advocacy of the need to change such behaviour and break the stigma around infertility in general. It also will provide a platform for those who have sought treatment to advise others on the journey and support those undergoing infertility treatments.

The stories submitted can be in a form of articles with photos, or three to five minute videos recorded using smart devices.

The award is open to print, video broadcast, photo journalists and media students whose stories appear in newspapers, websites, blogs and television and that target the public, but submission would be judged and recipients selected.

The judging panel consists of experts from diverse professional backgrounds including journalists, communications experts and media managers.

To qualify for submission, the story must have been published any time before August 30, 2017 and links to the stories must be submitted before the dead line, August 31, 2017.

Organisers say plagiarism of any kind will lead to automatic disqualification, photo entries will only be limited to 2 photographs per journalist/student and applicants should be East African journalists and registered media students in East Africa.

Applications can be submitted via [email protected].