Asia Society Seeking Nominations for Annual Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia

Contact: Elaine Merguerian, 212-327-9271, elainem@asiasoc.org

February 9, 2010 — The Asia Society is pleased to announce that it is now seeking nominations for the Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia. The $10,000 prize is awarded annually to a writer or team of writers who has produced the best example of journalism about Asia in print or online during the calendar year. Criteria for the prize include consideration for the impact of the work, its originality, creativity, depth of research and educational value in informing the public about Asia. The next winner of the “Oz Prize,” whose work was produced during the 2009 calendar year, will be announced at a special program at the Asia Society in New York City this spring. Submissions must be received by Friday, March 19, 2010.

The Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia honors the late Osborn Elliott, a legendary journalist and author. The former editor-in-chief of Newsweek, he set new standards for reporting and editing and became one of the earliest practitioners of “civic journalism” — the deliberate focusing of the journalistic enterprise on urgent issues of public policy. In 2009, a team of writers from the International Herald Tribune won for its coverage of Cyclone Nargis and its aftermath in Burma/Myanmar.

An independent jury of distinguished writers, award-winning journalists and Asia-hands, chaired by Norman Pearlstine, Chief Content Officer at Bloomberg and former Editor-in-Chief of Time, Inc., will review nominations and select the winner.

Eligibility:

• A submission can consist of a single written article, a series of articles around a single theme or a body of work including various themes.
• For the purposes of this award, "Asia" is termed as defined by the Asia Society, comprising of countries from Iran eastward up and including Australia and New Zealand. It does not include the Arab Middle East.
• While applications from non-US publications will be considered, the work must have been published in English.
• All nominations or direct applications are limited to one per organization or journalist.

Submission Requirements:

• Name of journalist(s) being nominated.
• Complete contact information: email, mailing address, and telephone number.
• The name, telephone number and email of the nominee's editor (self-nominees should inform their editors that we may contact them about your submission).
• A photograph or headshot of journalist for use at public announcement of the winner (image may be submitted as a print photograph or as a 300dpi image on disk in tiff or jpeg format).
• 12 copies of the body of journalistic work to be considered.

All submissions must be complete and received by Friday, March 19, 2010. Electronic and fax submissions will not be accepted. Hard copy submissions should be directed to:

Elaine Merguerian
Associate Director, Communications
Asia Society
725 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021

About Asia Society

Asia Society is the leading global organization working to strengthen relationships and promote understanding among the people, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the United States. We seek to enhance dialogue, encourage creative expression, and generate new ideas across the fields of arts and culture, policy and business, and education. Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Asia Society is a nonpartisan, nonprofit educational institution with offices in Hong Kong, Houston, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Seoul and Washington, DC. On the web at http://www.asiasociety.org