I joined the Board of the Council on Contemporary Families this year, and we are currently soliciting nominations for the 2008 Media Awards for Outstanding Coverage of Family Issues, so if you’re a journalist and published something you’re particularly proud of in 2008, please read on!

Submissions are due Friday, February 6, and the form is at the bottom of this post.

This will be our Seventh Annual Media Awards competition, honoring outstanding journalism that contributes to the public understanding of contemporary family issues, in particular the story behind the story: how diverse families are coping with social and economic change; what they need to flourish; and how these needs can best be met.

The Council will present three awards for outstanding coverage of family issues during 2008:
*      two for journalism in text form (print- or web-based); and
*      one for broadcast journalism (audio or video)

The awards will be presented at the 12th Annual CCF Conference on Friday, April 17th, in Chicago, Illinois. (I’ll be there!)  Check out the conference program.  It’s pretty amazing.

Winners will receive up to $500 towards travel expenses (depending on employers’ contributions). At the plenary session where awards are presented, winners are invited to speak for five minutes on emerging issues affecting American families and how CCF members and supporters can help the media cover these stories effectively.

Here’s more schpiel:

CCF recognizes that America needs a balanced national conversation about the cultural, legal, and psychological issues that shape both private life and public policy. Essential partners in this process are the reporters and producers who present complicated family issues in their broader social context.

Past winners include journalists from USA Today, Time magazine, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Bergen Record (New Jersey), WUFT/WJUF-FM, Thirteen/WNET, AlterNet, the Associated Press and many other organizations. Subject matter has ranged from the effect of the AIDS epidemic on children in South Florida to hunger in Oklahoma and the role of religion in American family life. You can read about last year’s winners here.

Nomination: Writers, editors, and producers may self-nominate; CCF members are also encouraged to submit nominations.

Criteria: Submissions must draw on traditional journalistic techniques of interview, observation and documentation. Opinion pieces are not eligible.

Work must have been published, broadcast, or posted during calendar year 2008.
*         Video and radio submissions must not exceed 30 minutes.
*         Written submissions must not exceed 2000 words; excerpts are acceptable.
*         A series that covers a particular issue over time is eligible.

Please complete and submit the nomination form below, along with copies of the print, audio, or broadcast clips under consideration.

Winners will be notified by Monday, March 16, 2009. The Media Awards will be presented on Friday, April 17th at 5:30 p.m., at the Council on Contemporary Families 12th Annual Conference at the University of Illinois-Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. Winners are invited to attend the entire conference in full. We urge
winners to accept their awards in person.

How CCF assists journalists

The Council on Contemporary Families helps keep journalists informed of new and notable research findings on family-related issues via the CCF Network. If you would like to join the network, please email Stephanie Coontz, Director of Research and Public Education, at coontzs@msn.com.

Here’s the submission form:
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Council on Contemporary Families
7th Annual Media Awards
Nomination Form

Deadline for entries: Friday, February 6, 2009
Winners will be notified by Monday, March 16.
Award presentations in Chicago, IL, on Friday, April 17, 2009

Please complete the form below and submit it – online and printed out and mailed – with five sets of the relevant tear sheets, CDs or DVDs to: Ashton Applewhite, Chair, CCF Media Committee, 74 North 7th Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11211; applewhite@earthlink.net.

NAME:

POSITION:

MEDIA OUTLET:

MAILING ADDRESS:

WEBSITE ADDRESS:

E-mail:

Daytime telephone:

WORK(S) FOR CONSIDERATION FOR THIS AWARD:

Please list titles & dates. If there is any contextual information that you think would be useful, please provide it here.

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