In the interests of promoting public education on food issues, particularly with respect to Food Safety, Food Additives and Food Processing, SAAFoST has established Meritorious Awards for Food Science Journalism to recognise those journalists who adopt a responsible approach and whose reports are objective and scientifically correct and consequently whose work contributes to sound consumer knowledge and understanding of controversial or complex food issues.
Nominations for the following categories are invited:
Printed Media
Electronic Media
Details of the awards follow. Additional nomination forms are available from the National Secretary. Nomination forms together with a copy/tape of the article/programme should be sent to:
CLOSING DATE FOR NOMINATIONS: FRIDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2010
Scope
This award embraces reports or articles covering any issue related to Food Science and Technology (with the exception of purely nutritional issues) which are:
published in South African newspapers, magazines or periodicals directed at the general public or a section of the public (Trade and House Magazines are excluded),
broadcast on South African radio or television.
Only material published or broadcast during the calendar year 2008 and which has not been the recipient of any other award, will be eligible.
Entries
Entries may be submitted by any journalist, author, publishing house or media department. Nominations for the award may be made by any member of SAAFoST. In cases where nominations have been made by a third party the nomination form must be countersigned by the nominee.
Adjudication
The entries and nominations will be adjudicated by a panel consisting of the Association’s President, the Vice-President, the President Elect and three other members appointed by the Executive Committee of the SAAFoST Council. The panel may refer the entry to an expert in the field for evaluation but such expert will not form part of the adjudication panel.
Nature of the award
Two Meritorious Awards are offered, one for the electronic media and one for the printed media. They will take the form of a certificate and a cash prize of R 5,000 each. A "Finders" fee of R1,000 will be awarded to each of the finders in the "published" and the "broadcast" categories. If the winning item is submitted by more than one "finder", the fee will go to the first submission received by the National Secretary. The presentation of the awards will be made annually by the President at a SAAFoST function. The travelling and accommodation expenses of recipients will be met by SAAFoST. The panel may also decide to award Certificates of Excellence to other deserving entrants. No cash prizes apply to the latter.
