Young Journalist Award 2026

Now in its 14th year, the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award in partnership with the UK Foreign Press Association (FPA) is open to journalists aged 30 or under on 30 November 2026 from and living in countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of USD 20,000 or less. Those who meet the criteria are welcome to submit a portfolio of three published pieces of work produced in the 12 months preceding the deadline for submissions, which is midnight (London time) on 9 August, 2026. They can be in any medium — print, audio, video or multimedia.

The Young Journalist Award has given a boost to some brilliant journalists over the years, each one of them demonstrating a rich tapestry of investigative journalism, exposing social issues and holding power to account. 

The annual competition is organised in partnership with the UK’s Foreign Press Association (FPA) and is presented at their annual awards event in London.

• Table of Content
• About Thomson Foundation
• Young Journalist Award Contest
• Aim and Benefits of Young Journalist Award Contest
• Requirements for Young Journalist Award Contest Qualification
• Application Deadline
• How to Apply

Young Journalist Award Contest

Aim and Benefits of Young Journalist Award Contest

• The competition enables journalists aged 30 and under, from countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of less than USD20,000, to send in their best stories to be examined by the judges. 

Requirements for Young Journalist Award Contest Qualification

1. AGE: Entrants must be 30 years of age or under on 30 November 2026.
2. LOCATION: For the purpose of this competition the “developing world” is defined as countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) of USD 20,000 or less. Entrants should be from a country that meets the GNI criteria and reporting from/in that country or, if not in their country of origination, in another country fitting the same GNI criteria. To find out if your country qualifies, please see: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
3. PORTFOLIO: Each entrant should submit a portfolio of THREE published or broadcast pieces of work produced in the 12 months preceding 9 August, 2026 (the 12 months prior to the deadline for submissions).
   The entries for the Young Journalist Award can be in any format: print, audio, video, multimedia, or a combination of all four. Applicants can provide URL links to their stories online. If necessary, they can use a file-sharing platform such as Google Drive for scans or PDFs of print articles, and for large audio or video files. A written statement of no more than 200 words per story giving a summary of the content and any impact it had on public debate in the country of publication or broadcast, should also be submitted.
4. LANGUAGE: Entries can be in any language but should be accompanied by a verbatim English-language translation.
5. VERIFICATION: Entries should be accompanied by a letter from the applicant’s current editor, on headed company notepaper verifying that it is the published work of the entrant. Where an entrant is freelance, or self-employed, verification can be provided by an editor from one of the publications/websites/broadcasters where the work appeared, or by a journalism academic familiar with the work of the entrant.
   A VERIFICATION LETTER MUST BE SUPPLIED WITH YOUR SUBMISSION. PLEASE SEND IT BY EMAIL TO [email protected] WITH YOUR NAME CLEARLY MARKED IN THE SUBJECT LINE. PLEASE NOTE, WE WILL ONLY ACCEPT VERIFICATION LETTERS VIA EMAIL, EVERYTHING ELSE SHOULD BE PROVIDED USING THE ONLINE ENTRY FORM.
6. COLLABORATION: Entrants should provide an explanation of any collaboration undertaken with colleagues or external organisations on the stories that they have submitted.
7. PLAGIARISM: Checks will be made for plagiarism and any entrant found to have submitted work which is not their own will be automatically disqualified.

Application Deadline

How to Apply

For more information, kindly visit Young Journalist Award webpage.