DEADLINE: True Story Award

The True Story Award is a global journalism prize. It aims to make reporters' voices known beyond the borders of their home countries, and in doing so to increase the diversity of perspectives offered in the media. 

The True Story Award 2025 will be presented to authors in three categories:

True Story Award Research
This award recognises the quality of journalistic research, taking into account the extent of the research, time invested and country-specific circumstances.

True Story Award Storytelling
This award recognises a reporter's writing talent, taking into account journalistic craftsmanship, truthfulness and narrative elegance.

True Story Award Impact
This award recognises the impact of a report, taking into account the country-specific relevance of a text and its potential impact on society, politics and the economy.

The winner of each category will receive a USD 20,000 cash prize.

The call for entries is open until 22 October 2024 (12 pm UTC). We accept reports published between 1 October 2023 and 30 September 2024 in one of ten of the most important world languages; or as a translation, if the original was not written in one of these languages. Editors may also submit reports from their publications.

The jury, consisting of renowned experts from the fields of journalism, publishing, teaching and literature, will read and evaluate all texts submitted, nominating one author per category and language region for the True Story Award 2025. A total of 36 journalists will receive an invitation to attend the True Story Award ceremony and the True Story Festival in Bern, Switzerland, which will take place from 20 to 22 June 2025. The main purpose of the award is to bring journalists from all over the world together and enable an exchange with audiences in Bern. There, the main jury, consisting of seven representatives of all five continents, will choose three winners from the nominated reports.

Details and entry form.