Deadline: October 31, 2026
Applications are open for the True Story Award 2027. This international award for journalists from around the world is presented at the opening of the True Story Festival. The True Story Award recognises written reports by journalists from around the world that stand out for their depth of research, quality of writing, and societal relevance.
The award is presented in three categories: Research, Storytelling, and Impact.
- True Story Award Research: This award recognises the high quality of journalistic research. The evaluation takes into account the scope of the research, time invested, data analysis, the difficulty of obtaining information, and any risks involved.
- True Story Award Storytelling: This award recognises the outstanding writing quality of a feature. The evaluation takes into account structure and composition, the combination of facts and prose, narrative elegance, and literary quality in non-fiction.
- True Story Award Impact: This award recognises the societal impact of a feature. The evaluation takes into account news value, reader response, and potential further consequences in politics, the economy, and society.
Prizes
- The main jury selects the three winners in the categories “Research”, “Storytelling”, and “Impact”. Each winner receives a prize of USD $20,000.
Eligibility
- Open to journalists from around the world.
- Reports from around the world published between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026 in daily or weekly newspapers, magazines, or online are eligible for submission to the 2027 True Story Award.
Emtry Requirements
- Submitted texts must be between 15,000 and 85,000 characters in length, including spaces.
- Previously published works, book publications, and unpublished manuscripts are not eligible.
- Visual and audiovisual works are excluded.
- Purely factual texts and academic works are not eligible.
- Each author may submit only one text.
- Entries may be submitted by the authors themselves or by their editorial teams.
- By submitting their work, authors confirm that their text is based on genuinely researched events and meets journalistic standards.
- In the event of a nomination, authors grant the True Story Foundation the right to publish their texts on its website in the original language and in English.
- In the event of a nomination, authors grant the True Story Foundation the right to publish their texts in German in partner media outlets of the Award and the Festival.
Application
The submission deadline is Saturday, 31 October 2026, at 12:00 (UTC). Entries submitted after this deadline cannot be considered.
Entries can be submitted online in the following nine widely spoken languages:
- ال†عر†بیة-
- 中文
- English
- Français
- Deutsch
- فارسی
- Português
- Pусский
- Español
Entries in languages other than those listed above may be submitted in English translation via one of the following regional categories:
- Europe
- World I (Africa and the Middle East)
- World II (South Asia and Southeast Asia)
For more information, visit True Story Award.
