DEADLINE EXTENDED TO : 14 DECEMBER 2008 ! Submit your blog now!

The WAXAL -- Blogging Africa Awards (BAA) are an initiative of Panos Institute of West Africa (PIWA, www.panos-ao.org) with the partnership of Highway Africa (www.highwayafrica.com) and Global Voices (www.globalvoicesonline.org).

WAXAL (pronounced WA-HAL) means “speak” in Wolof (Senegalese language) and the word captures the essence of the evolution of the worldwide web as a platform for conversation and for the raising of marginalized voices.

For this first edition, the WAXAL Awards will seek to recognize the production of blogs by people working as journalists (from all kind of media: print, online, radio, TV) and by African organizations working to favour the production of alternative information and citizen expression.

To this end the awards are in the following three categories:

1. Best French-speaking Journalist Blog

2. Best English-speaking Journalist Blog

3. Best Citizen Journalist Blog produced by an African Organization

The first and second categories will recognize individual journalist blogs, whereas the third category will reward individual organization's blogs. For this last category, the blog content can be in French or English. It’s envisaged to include other languages, notably African languages, in next editions of the blog contest. Apart from promoting blogs, this contest will help understand, among others, issues related to journalists’ use of blog in Africa.

Internet users can vote online for the 5 Best Blogs in each category. A bilingual panel of judges composed of media professionals will select the winners.

WHO CAN PARTICIPATE AND HOW?

For the first two categories, the WAXAL Awards is open to any African citizen who owns his own blog, but works as journalist in any kind of media organ, online or conventional (print media, radio, TV) or who works as freelance journalist. The blog submitted should be the journalist own blog, instead of the blog of the media organ for which he/she works.

For the third category, blogs should have been produced by an African organization, with the aim to produce alternative, citizen information, raise marginalized voices. Blogs just reporting on an organization’s activities are excluded.

To nominate your blog submit your details on this form .

Alternatively, submit the following details via email to africablogawards@gmail.com and copying (CC) c.kabwato@ru.ac.za - Name and Surname or Organization name

- Blog URL:

- Contact e-mail address:

- Phone number/Mobile number:

- Country

- A 2, 000 letter article explaining your interest in blogging as journalist and/or your editorial line

Deadline: 7 DECEMBER 2008

SELECTION AND PRIZES

Selection criteria will include:

- Editorial line

- Diversity of information format on the blog (audio, video, print)

- Quality of language in posts written by the owner of the blog

- Originality of posts

- Frequency/Consistency of blogging

Each winner of the first two categories will receive a cash sum of F CFA 1,000,000 (about USD 2,000). The organization winner of the third category will receive a cash sum of F CFA 2,000,000 (about USD 4,000). The reference currency is F CFA.

The winners will also be invited to a special awards event in Dakar, Senegal in January 2009.

Apart from the blogs awarded, other best blogs will be promoted by the organizers through various channels.

RESERVATION CLAUSE

Organizers reserve the right not to award prizes if the blogs submitted are not up to an appreciable quality. The decisions made by the panel of judges and organizers are supreme and beyond all possible dispute. All participants in this contest implicitly accept the rules presented in this document.

For more information, contact

- Highway Africa Director – c.kabwato@ru.ac.za

- Panos Institute West Africa - ICT Programme contact@cipaco.org

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