Australian Press Council Prize 1998-9

The Australian Press Council has announced the terms of entry for its 1998-9 award. The Prize is awarded for the best essay submitted on a set topic.

In 1998-9 the topic is:

Principle 4 states, "News obtained by dishonest or unfair means, or the publication of which would involve a breach of confidence, should not be published unless there is an over-riding public interest." Discuss this principle, especially in the light of the number of stories obtained through leaks and whistleblowers who may have breached the law or a confidence in passing the information along.

Entries are invited in two categories:

1. Tertiary students (as at 30 June 1999), who will have a 2,500 word limit; and
2. Secondary students (as at 30 June 1999), with a 1,500 word limit.

Winners in each category will be selected by a panel of judges and the prizes of up to $1,500 will be awarded in each category.

The final date for receipt of submissions is 30 June 1999.

At the request of the 1994 judges, the Council specifies that it would prefer entries that demonstrate some effort to research the topic and argue it seriously. It also requests that entries be typescript and double-spaced. No formal entry form is required.

The Australian Press Council reserves the right not to award a prize/s.

Inquiries:

The Executive Secretary
The Australian Press Council
303/149 Castlereagh Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000

Tel: (02) 9261 1930 or (1800) 02 5712
Fax: (02) 9267 6826

email: info@presscouncil.org.au

For the guidance of entrants, the Council appends some comments from the judges of the 1994 Prize, which was of the same format but with a different essay topic.

Judges' comments on the 1994 APC Prize

[The Council also draws attention to the comments made by the 1997-8 judges.]

The judges were of the opinion that a majority of the entries demonstrated a less than satisfactory approach to the response to the questions raised by the topic, "The Freedom of the Press and Its Responsibility".

Too many entrants relied on personal opinion, unsupported by evidence, to present their case. In particular, there was a reliance on generalisations on the media based on a selective sample of press, usually the general circulation magazines and "current affairs" television programs. As a result, the judges read too many shallow analyses of the handling of the O J Simpson trial and the travails of the Princess of Wales. Very little effort was made to link these matters, and the (tabloid) media's handling of them, to the wider questions of the freedom and responsibility of the press - the questions raised by the essay topic.

Additionally, because many entrants did not adequately define the terms of the subject, their entries tended to be subjective views on the media coverage of a few over-exposed events. This left no room for any sort of well-founded analysis of either the freedom given to the press or its consequent responsibilities.

The judges recommend that, in future years, entrants be given clearer guidelines on the form and content of the essays. In particular, entrants should be advised that their entries should demonstrate some reading on the subject presented (including the provision of a bibliography) and be in the form of a formal essay. The essays should attempt to comply as closely as possible to the word-count maxima in the separate competitions, to enable them to argue more convincingly their thesis. The judges also suggested that only entries submitted as double-spaced typescript should be accepted.

In the case of secondary students, class assignments, not done especially for the Prize, should not be accepted.

See also:
1997-8 APC Prize results