"The award has been introduced by MAMN to raise awareness on microfinance activities and their impact [on] the low income population in Malawi," said a statement from MISA Malawi.
It further said the award also aims at motivating media practitioners to write analytical stories, investigate and research microfinance issues as well as inspire media practitioners to strive for excellence in their work.
The Microfinance Best Journalist Award will be presented by the MAMN at the Microfinance Annual Conference in October this year.
Practitioners in the electronic media should record their work on DVDs/CDs, while those in print media should send cuttings or copies of their published work to the address provided. For articles published online, entrants should send printouts together with the link where the article appeared including the date.
MISA Malawi secretariat and MAMN will be responsible for the selection of judges for the awards. A team of experts will be set up to judge the entries based on the following: originality, consistency, courage, research and analysis, gender and nature of sources used.
The awards committee will accept entries published between 11 June 2010 and 15 September 2010.
