The European Press Prize and Studio Europa Maastricht announce the opening of the European Cartoon Award 2024, the prize for excellence in editorial cartoons.
From April 29 to June 2, 2024, editorial cartoonists will be able to submit their work for the fifth edition of the European Cartoon Award. Submitted cartoons must have had their first publication date between June 2, 2023, and June 2, 2024, with a media outlet from a country within the Council of Europe, plus Belarus, and Russia.
Founded in 2019, by the European Press Prize and Studio Europa Maastricht, the European Cartoon Award has one of the highest monetary prizes for cartoonists, granting its winner a prize of 10,000 euros.
The cartoons can be submitted via this link: https://europeancartoonaward.com/
About the European Cartoon Award
The European Cartoon Award was founded in 2019 by the European Press Prize and Studio Europa Maastricht to encourage cartoonists in their essential work for freedom of expression.
Emanuele Del Rosso, Deputy Director of the ECA: "We have never needed political cartoons this badly. In a period such as the one we’re in, where multiple wars unfold, humanitarian catastrophes, and extremisms divide people, cartoons can help us steady our course and understand what happens around us. It is going to be a very important fifth season of the ECA.”
Essential for democracy
Cartoons are an indispensable part of the public debate. In the universal language of the image, they transcend borders and put their finger on the sore spot. Averse to conventions, challenging, creative, and playful, cartoons are the hallmark of an open European society.
Gonny WILLEMS, director of Studio Europa Maastricht: “In these unprecedented times of polarisation, there is a lack of understanding for the perspective of the other. Cartoons can offer an opening to the truth of the other with irony, humour, and sharpness.”
Jennifer Athanasiou-Prins, Executive Director of the European Press Prize: “One of the reasons for the creation of the European Cartoon Award was the strain of the shrinking space for freedom of expression that cartoonists experience. This is exactly why we celebrate cartoonists’ work with the European Cartoon Award: to encourage them to continue their essential task of contributing to the public debate. Being a source of pride and validation is crucial – we also experience that at the European Press Prize – to empower both journalists and cartoonists to keep holding power to account.”
The Panel of Judges of the ECA 2024
The jury for the 2023 edition consists, among others, of the winner of the European Cartoon Award 2022: the British Ben Jennings. He will work together with Dutch cartoonist Jip van den Toorn, Dutch Professor Stine Jensen, French journalist Catherine André, and Iranian cartoonist Sanaz Bagheri.
Who Can Enter?
Cartoonists operating in the 46 countries of Europe (as defined by the Council of Europe) plus Belarus and Russia.
If a cartoonist is physically unable to enter work, another cartoonist can nominate and submit a cartoon on behalf of a colleague.
Freelance cartoonists who produce work in print or online can enter the competition if their submitted work has been published by newspapers, magazines, or news sites during the allowed time frame.
What Can Be Submitted?
A maximum of three cartoons per participant.
If the work is part of a series, the submitter will be asked to disclose this in the entry form.
Cartoons with captions are submitted in the original language. An English translation must be provided in the entry form.
The work submitted must have its first publication date between June 2, 2023 and 2 June, 2024, and must have been published in European media (Council of Europe plus Belarus and Russia).
Works published by the Cartoon Movement will be accepted only if marked as “Editorial choice” by the Cartoon Movement’s editor-in-chief.
How To Submit?
A participant must complete the questionnaire in the online form (active during the submission period) to provide the requested information and some background on the entry.
We will not accept cartoons submitted via email.
All the material must be submitted electronically. Cartoons must be submitted in JPEG format, with a resolution of 1080 x 1080 pixels minimum.
If a URL for the online publication of the cartoon is added, entrants are responsible for making sure the URL works and remains active until the Award winner is announced.
Judging procedure
After the entries have come in, they will be evaluated by the Panel of judges, in three rounds of voting.
The jury’s choices and the resulting shortlist will be published on the European Press Prize website.
The Panel of judges makes the final selection for the winner.
The following rules ensure a fair judging process:
(I) Jury members cannot enter the contest in the year they are judging.
(II) Each jury member, whether an ordinary member or chair, has one equal vote.
(III) Judges cannot abstain from voting at any stage of the judging process.
(IV) All proceedings and deliberations of each jury are conducted in confidence.
(V) All entries are coded, with identifying information removed from the text so the work is judged anonymously. At no stage of the process – and in no discussion either in or outside the judging rooms – should jury members speculate on, or reveal, any names of participating journalists, newsrooms or publications.
(VI) If the jury members recognize they are personally involved in submitted work, through either a personal or professional relationship, they must declare their interest openly at the beginning of any discussions on the work.
(VII) The judges must select a winner and a runner-up. The award ceremony of the fourth edition will take place on 17 October 2024 in The Hague (the Netherlands).
Shortlist
After the Panel of judges chooses the first preliminary shortlist, cartoonists can be contacted for additional material.
If you have any questions or want to recommend projects you have seen, email us at emanuele@europeanpressprize.com. Due to the volume of emails we receive, we cannot guarantee a reply to all of them.
Media contact: emanuele@europeanpressprize.com
Referance: Francisco Puñal Suárez
(Source: European Press Prize)
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