American Geophysical Union (AGU) David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism – News 2020 ($5,000 award)
Deadline: March 15, 2020
Applications for the David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism 2020 are now open. The David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism—News recognizes excellence in science news reporting, generally produced under deadline pressure of one week or less. It is named for David Perlman, Science Editor (now retired) of the San Francisco Chronicle.
This award recognizes excellence in reporting a news story or series that meets one or more of the following criteria: Brings new information or concepts about AGU sciences to the public’s attention, identifies and corrects misconceptions about AGU sciences, or makes AGU sciences accessible and interesting to general audiences, without sacrificing accuracy.
Award
- Each award consists of a plaque and a $5,000 award.
Eligibility
- Nominations are open to journalists working in any medium, except books.
- A nominee must be the author of the submitted story. In the case of collaborative efforts, those involved must determine who is or are the nominee(s) up to four people, which can include contributors to the audio and visual aspect of the entry.
- The nominee must be an author who is employed in one the following arenas:
- Print or electronic publication,
- Broadcast or cable station, or broadcast network
- Freelance journalist.
- A person or group may be nominated or may self-nominate for both the Perlman and Sullivan awards in one year. But no individual or group is permitted to win both awards in the same year.
Entries
- Eligible entries must have been first published between January 1 and December 31 of the year prior to the award year (e.g. must have been first published between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019 to be eligible for the 2020 award)
- Eligible entries must have been intended for, and available to, the general public;
- Entries must be in English (or include an English translation).
- A nominee may submit only one entry for the award in a given year.
- Eligible news stories must be about one or more of the scientific disciplines represented by AGU.
- If each segment of a series was identified at the time of publication as being part of the series, the series is eligible to be judged as one entry. Alternatively, coverage of an ongoing activity, such as a scientific society meeting or a natural event, can be regarded as a series. However, no more than three segments of any series may be submitted for judging.
- For most submissions, AGU will need a URL web address for the entry, which you can enter into the nomination form. However, for three types of entries, you will also need to submit additional documents, which you can upload by means of the online nomination system.
- BROADCAST/MULTIMEDIA REPORT: If your entry is a broadcast or multimedia report (i.e., video or audio), please be certain to upload a written transcript, in the form of a PDF or Word document, for the video or audio portions, which you can do by means of the online nomination system.
- NON-ENGLISH REPORT: If your entry is in a language other than English, please be certain to upload a written translation, in the form of a PDF or Word document, which you can also do by means of the online nomination system.
- PAYWALL: If your entry is located behind a paywall, please upload a PDF version of the entry by means of the online nomination system.
- If a URL and a PDF of an entry are both submitted, please indicate how the two versions are substantially different and which is the preferred version.
Selection Criteria
The selection committee will consider accuracy, initiative, originality and clarity. The committee may also consider the timeliness of the news story, whether it was published first, before other media outlets, and whether it contains information of exceptional originality, importance, surprise or secrecy.
Application