The story contest is part of the ICFJ Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum.

The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is honoring more than 50 journalists for COVID-19 reporting in five languages. Their coverage has explained complicated science, revealed pandemic-related corruption and exposed inequalities that have harmed society’s most vulnerable.

Winners are members of the ICFJ Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum, an initiative that connects journalists covering the COVID-19 crisis with experts, resources and each other. Judges selected the winners from 672 entries, and evaluated them based on the rigor of the reporting, use of data and multimedia, and overall storytelling. The winning journalists will receive cash prizes. 

“This reporting contest showed us the breadth of the coverage journalists in the ICFJ network are providing to their communities about the pandemic, a crisis that has touched us all,” said Stella Roque, ICFJ Director of Community Engagement. “Despite misinformation, declining newsroom revenue and even attacks on journalists, reporters worldwide are providing accurate and life-saving information on COVID-19. We congratulate our winners on their excellent coverage.”

First, second and third place winners were selected across three categories for reporting in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. The story categories were science and health; transparency, crime and corruption; and inequality, business and economics. The top winners of the contest in each of the story categories are as follows:

Arabic

Science and Health 

• Ahmed Gomaa (Egypt) 

• The Journey to Find a Bed for a Coronavirus Patient… a Challenge that Could End With a Death, published in Masrawy

Transparency, Crime and Corruption 

• Khaoula Boukrim (Tunisia)

• How Did the Tunisian Government Manage the COVID-19 Deals?, published on Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ)

Inequality, Business and Economics

• Rania Abdullah (Yemen)

• Domestic Violence in Yemen Amidst COVID-19 Quarantine, published in Al-Madaniya Magazine

English

Science and Health

• Priscila Pacheco, Alexandre de Maio, Cecilia Marins, Maskra, Alessandra de Maio, Lola García-Ajofrín, Piotr Kliks, Marcin Suder and Małgorzata Mrozek (cross-border team based in Brazil, Poland and Spain)

• Favelas vs. COVID-19, published in Outriders

Transparency, Crime and Corruption 

• Clair MacDougall (Burkina Faso)

• In Mali, the First Death of a UN Peacekeeper from COVID-19 Keeps His Family Guessing, published in PassBlue

Inequality, Business and Economics

• Amir Khafagy (United States)

• Black Lives Matter on the Picket Line, published in Discourse Blog

French

Science and Health

• Mégane Chiecchi and Thomas Bourgeois-Muller (France)

• COVID-19: At the Heart of Alsace, Wounded Region, published in Le Point

Transparency, Crime and Corruption 

• Vincent Arnaud Deguenon (Benin)

• Benin-Togo Borders: The Scandalous “COVID Business” in Hillacondji, published in Benin Web TV

Inequality, Business and Economics

• Herve Mukulu (Democratic Republic of the Congo)

• Humanitarian Organizations’ Controversial Management of Drinking Water Sources in Butembo, published in Info Nile

Portuguese

Science and Health

• Ludimila Honorato, Bruno Ponceano, Augusto Conconi (Brazil)

• City of São Paulo Reaches 10,000 Deaths by COVID-19; Know the Victims' Profile, published in Estadão

Transparency, Crime and Corruption 

• Thiago Reis, Clara Velasco, Gabriela Caesar (Brazil)

• States Buy 7,000 Respirators, but Less Than Half Are Delivered; Value of Each Equipment Varies from R$ 40,000 to R$ 226,000 in the Country, published in G1

Inequality, Business and Economics 

• Naira Hofmeister, Fernanda Wenzel, José Cícero da Silva, Larissa Fernandes (Brazil)

• One Death Every Four days: Xikrin People Are Most Affected by COVID-19 in Pará, published in Agência Pública

Spanish

Science and Health

• Aleida Rueda (Mexico) 

• Unsupported Drugs for COVID-19 Making Inroads in Latin America, published in Science and Development Network

Transparency, Crime and Corruption 

• Errol Caballero (Panama), Susana López (Bolivia), John Machado (Ecuador), Alejandro Melgoza (Mexico), Johanna Osorio (Colombia), Grisha Vera (Venezuela) and all the CONNECTAS community. 

• Sick Health Systems, a story part of the reporting series #HuellasDeLaPandemia, published in CONNECTAS

Inequality, Business and Economics

• Delsy Loyola, Anthony Niño de Guzmán, César Campos, Melissa Valdivia, José Penadillo (Peru)

• Public Education in Crisis, published in El Comercio

Journalists and health experts are invited to become members of the ICFJ Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. You can also subscribe to our newsletters in each of these languages to get updates on Forum events. 

The ICFJ Global Health Crisis Reporting Forum has been generously supported by a series of donors. A special thank you to Google.org, the Facebook Journalism Project, the Scripps Howard Foundation, Dow Jones, the Fortune Family Foundation, and the Hearst Foundation for making the Forum possible.

The second and third prize winners across all Fora are as follows:

Science and Health

2nd Place

• English: Puja Changoiwala (India) for Quanta Magazine, Why South Asia’s COVID-19 Numbers are So Low (For Now)

• Arabic: Samar Medhat and Ahmed Beca (Egypt) for Zatmasr, An Unknown Fate ...the Lack of "Blood Bags" Threatens the Lives of Thousands of Egyptians

• French: Rouguyata Sall (France) for Mediapart, Retirement Homes in the Face of COVID: "I'm afraid they will let themselves die of sorrow and isolation"

• Spanish: Julia Drangosch (Argentina), Joaquín Lledó, Lucho Gargiulo, Gerónimo Doljanin, for Quédigital, Coronavirus in Focus: The Search for an Invisible Enemy | The pandemic in Mar del Plata

• Portuguese: Talyta Vespa, Clarice Cardoso, Ricardo Matsukawa, Lucas Lima, Santhiago Botture, Juliana Caro, René Cardillo, Laís Montagnana (Brazil), for UOL, In 12 hours, the Frantic Rush of Health Professionals to Save People

3rd Place

• English: Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman (Ghana) for GHOne TV, Sanitation Mess; a Silent Enemy in Ghana's COVID-19 Response 

• Arabic: Menna Abdelrazzak and Ahmed Beca (Egypt) for Zatmasr, I Do Not Sleep...How did COVID-19 Increase the Suffering of Patients with Sleep Disorders?

• French: Dougenie Michelle Archille (Haiti) for Enquete Action, Haiti: Dying of COVID-19 or From Hunger 

• Spanish: Jackeline Cárdenas Ipenza (Peru), Elvis Rivera Cotrina, Ghiovani Hinojosa, Iván Ciro Palomino, Antonio Manco and Milagros Salazar Herrera, for Convoca, Nazareth, Forgotten Twice

• Portuguese: Estêvão Bertoni, Guilherme Falcão, Caroline Lopes e Ibrahim Cesar Bevilacqua (Brazil), for Nexo Jornal, What Is It, Where Did It Come From and Where Is It Going the Brazilian Health Unic System

Honorable Mention: English - Tobore Ovuorie (Nigeria) for The Nation, How Nigeria’s Ongoing Water Crisis Could Worsen COVID-19

Transparency, Crime and Corruption

2nd Place

• English: Anna-Catherine Brigida and Morena Pérez Joachin (United States) for The Texas Observer with support from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, The Coronavirus Pipeline

• Arabic: Haidy Hamdi (Egypt) for Dostor, "Al-Dustour" Agrees to Buy "Corona Tests:" the Box is Worth 7,500 Pounds

• French: Anto Mulanga (Democratic Republic of the Congo) for La Guardia, COVID-19 in DRC: Between Business and Public Health Crisis 

• Spanish: Mariengracia Chirinos (Venezuela), Ángel Alayón, Oscar Marcano, Valentina Oropeza, John Fuentes, Valentina Oropeza, and Salvador Benasayag, for Prodavinci, Covering the Pandemic: Arrests of Journalists and Health Personnel in Venezuela 

• Portuguese: Juan Ortiz (Colômbia/Brazil) for Matinal Jornalismo, The COVID-19 Cases that This City Excluded without Warning

3rd Place

• English: Aderemi Ojekunle (Nigeria) for Dataphyte Nigeria, ₦35m for Face Mask, ₦15m for Liquid Soap, How 5 Federal MDAs Mismanaged ₦1.69 Billion COVID-19 Fund

• Arabic: Rania Abdullah (Yemen) for Daraj, Displaced People in Taiz ... They Were Displaced by War, and Now COVID-19 Threatens Them

• Spanish: Rudy Jordán (Peru), Oscar Ramirez Champa, Luis Jacobo, Juan Aurelio Arévalo, Christian Saurré, Soine Díaz, Carlos Hidalgo, Antonio Álvarez, Ferrando José Manuel Romero, Bryan Albornoz, Ricardo León, Rodrigo Cruz, José Manuel Romero and Carls Mayo, for El Comercio, QUARANTINE: 100 Days of the Coronavirus Pandemic 

• Portuguese: Katia Flora dos Reis, Camila da Silva (Brazil), for The Intercept Brasil, This Politician Says that Lunch Assistance Reaches Everyone Who Needs It. These 10 Mothers Show That It Is a Lie.

Inequality, Business and Economics

2nd Place

• English: Patrick Egwu and Vivian Chime (South Africa/Nigeria) for Ripples Nigeria, Investigation: ‘Official’ Thugs Killing Small Businesses in Cross River Despite Govt’s Tax Exemption Policy

• Arabic: Hazm Almazouni (Jordan) for Amman Net, The COVID-19 Pandemic Devastates What Remains of Syrian Refugee Worker’s Resilience in Jordan

• French: Delphine Bousquet (Benin) for Gazette des Femmes, Benin: At the Crossroads of Public Health and Economic Constraints

• Spanish: Liza López (Venezuela), Ysabel Viloria, Arantxa López, Anaís Marichal, Carla Contreras, Jonathan Gutiérrez, Carlos Bello, Anaís Marichal and LUDA, for Historias que Laten, Grandparents Who are No Longer Alone

• Portuguese: Beatriz Jucá, Heloísa Mendonça (Brazil), for El País, The Public Aid that Revolutionizes Life in Ceará Does Not Save the Street in São Paulo

3rd Place

• English: Isabela Dias (United States/Brazil) for the Texas Observer, Telehealth Could be Great if Texans Had Access to It

• Arabic: Mohammad Bassiki (France) in partnership with SIRAJ and DARJ Media, Syria: People with Special Needs Face to Face with COVID-19

• French: Fousseni Saibou (Togo) for Kanal Fm, The Fate of Domestic Workers in the Face of COVID-19

• Spanish: Wendy Selene Pérez (Mexico), Omar Vega, for Gatopardo, Letter from Texas: Repatriate a Body in Times of Covid-19

• Portuguese: Marcus Furtado (Brazil), for Projeto Colabora, Booklet Guides Favela Residents in Fighting Coronavirus; Download Now

Honorable Mentions 

Spanish Forum: Jesús Abad (Spain), for GLOCAL, COVID-19: What Happens When the World Looks the Other Way?