The International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF) is pleased to announce its first annual Young MMA Journalists Competition.
Two winners will be awarded the opportunity to report on the 2021 IMMAF World Championships in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan in November /December 2021 (TBA), under the training and mentorship of a senior journalist with decades of experience in covering elite, international sport. Travel, accommodation and routine daily costs will be covered by the IMMAF.
The winners’ written and audio-visual work about the action and news around the championships will be published on official IMMAF platforms. The journalists will receive training, remotely in advance of the event as well as onsite, also with guidance from IMMAF’s communications team.
The purpose of the competition is to help develop MMA journalists of the future. The project hopes to attract young people from around the world and reflect diversity in both gender and background.
Award-winning Olympic journalist, former Associated Press editor and mentor for the IOC Young Reporters’ Programme, Steve Wilson, commented on behalf of IMMAF’s Marketing and Communications Commission:
"The IMMAF Young Reporters programme reflects the global, youth-oriented focus of the IMMAF and its commitment to developing the MMA journalists of the future. The programme represents the chance of a lifetime for two young journalists to receive professional training and report on the sport’s biggest event. It’s a win-win for everyone involved."
HOW WILL THE REPORTERS BE CHOSEN?
This opportunity is open to any young person worldwide who is not a professional journalist and is 26 or under.
To enter, provide the following to Isobel.carnwath@immaf.org by the following date:
1) CV - A one-page curriculum vitae or resume detailing your education and any work experience in reporting sport and/or in operating cameras and editing material for audio-visual material.
2) SUMMARY – A 250-word summary in English saying why you want to be part of the project and what you hope to do in your future career.
3) EXAMPLE OF WORK - A 400-word written story in English OR a selection of edited audio-visual interviews or reports (maximum duration 3 minutes; MP4 format) which you have carried out in reporting MMA or any other sport or live news events.
4) PUBLISHED WORK - Links or pdfs of any published works, if applicable
5) SOCIAL MEDIA - Links to any key posts on your social channels that you feel would support your submission / illustrate your portfolio / style
The audio-visual interviews can be conducted in another language. The subject matter does not have to be MMA, but the material must have been filmed and edited by the candidate.
The event must be something you have covered in person. It cannot be an event watched on TV, but it could also be any type of interview you have carried out. Any level of MMA or sport can be covered – from school or youth to professional level.
The standard of English for the written work does not need to be perfect but must reflect your ability without significant help from anybody else.
DEADLINE
The competition opens today, 13 January 2021 and closes at midnight GMT on 31 March 2021.
Submissions will be judged by a panel of experienced journalists and media professionals from around the world. Successful candidates will be informed of the results by the end of June 2021.
JUDGING CRITERIA
Entrants will be judged based on the quality of the submissions, their enthusiasm and long-term promise and potential.
OFFICIAL RULES (TERMS & CONDITIONS)
See Official Rules (Terms & Conditions)
ENQUIRIES
For enquiries contact Isobel.carnwath@immaf.org
As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.
These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
