Women in Journalism has announced its shortlist for the WIJ/Georgina Henry inaugural prize for innovation. Georgina Henry, who died in February 2014, was a founding member of Women in Journalism, deputy editor of the Guardian and launch editor of Comment is Free. The award has been established in her memory.
The judges received an impressive 72 entries featuring very diverse projects. They were looking for a flair for story telling and an innovation in the story delivery. They also wanted evidence of impact and a worked out plan for what the £4000 prize money would be spent on. They hoped to find a project that combined Georgina Henry's passion for women and her work on the Guardian online. The women they have shortlisted are certainly highly impressive and have all endeavoured to improve the lives of women globally.
The following women have made the shortlist;
Laura Bates founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, who submitted a plan to extend the work of Everyday Sexism called Shouting Back which would put not only the tales of women who fought back and what happened, but would also be a one-stop supportive resource for anyone who has been the victim of harassment containing all the relevant legal points, other organisations to contact and stories of strategies that have worked for others. The judges praised her "impact", "clarity of purpose" and the way she has brought "both publicity, a voice and solace" to the victims.
Ros Wynne-Jones is an award-winning freelance journalist who writes the Real Britain column for the Daily Mirror, which tells the human stories behind austerity. Her proposal for the prize is a giving voice to a modern day 'Road to Wigan Pier' – 80 years on from Orwell . The judges praised her "humanity", "sympathetic voice" and ambitious plan to share tales of rage, despair and injustice.
Iram Ramzan works as a reporter for a newspaper in Greater Manchester and writes occasionally for Left Foot Forward and Harry’s Place. Her interest lies in politics and international affairs, especially issues surrounding women and Islam. Her proposal is to use the money to set up an interactive blog for moderate muslim voices. The judges said, “never has their been a greater need for such a forum” and praised her bravery in "saying the often unsayable" and “fanning the flames of reason”. They were also much taken with her “new fresh voice from the north west of England”.
Lauren Bohn is The GroundTruth Project’s inaugural Middle East correspondent based in Istanbul and a columnist for Foreign Policy Magazine. She’s the co-founder of Foreign Policy Interrupted, an initiative dedicated to amplifying female voices in foreign policy. She’s also the co-founder of SchoolCycle, a United Nations Foundation campaign in Malawi to provide bikes for adolescent girls to get to school. She’s the founding assistant editor of the Cairo Review of Global Affairs in Egypt, where she was a Fulbright fellow and Pulitzer Center grantee. Her proposal for the prize is to set up a network of female voices on foreign policy where they are too often in far too short supply. The judges praised her “efforts in an area where women are so often unrepresented” and her “passion”
Pictured: Georgina Henry
