Applications open for Sigma Awards 2021 for Data Journalists. The Sigma Awards is a competition to celebrate the best data journalism from around the world. Striding into its second year, it’s also here to empower, elevate, and enlighten the global community of data journalists.

The international data journalism community is facing many challenges, and we want to support them. This year’s Sigma Awards will be about highlighting the very best data journalism done about the pandemic (and building an international database record of such projects), but also those covering other topics such as politics, sports, or the environment.

Awards

A US$5,000 cash prize will be split amongst the winners. The latter will also get a certificate and speaking opportunities in our online events.

Rules and Regulations

• Entries must be for work published in the calendar year 2020. Also, entries should be submitted via our online form.
• Entries must be received by February 1st, 2021 at 11:59 pm ET, to qualify.
• Applicants can enter as many projects as they want to the competition.
• Entries should specify if they qualify as a large or a small newsroom or as an individual, where applicable. Small newsrooms are defined as those with 35 or fewer journalists (including regular freelancers/contractors), or equivalent (eg, two half-time freelancers count as one person.)
• Organizations that do not qualify under this definition but who believe they belong in the small newsroom category may petition for an exception by sending a letter from the editor-in-chief explaining his or her rationale to Marianne Bouchart, executive director at [email protected].
• Collaborative work should be entered as a large newsroom.
• Entering organizations grant The Sigma Awards the right to use their material in their entry, including the organization’s name and logo, on The Sigma Awards website and other marketing material around the awards.
• 2020 has been a special year for all members of the data journalism community, and we expect to receive a large number of entries tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we’d like to specify that all data journalism projects, regardless of their topics, can be entered in the competition.

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