This year’s Montserrat Roig Awards keep the same four categories as previous editions: social journalism, social communication, promotion of investigative journalism and the jury’s special prize. The backing for research continues, with three specific sub-categories to help reach as many projects as possible.

Requisites for candidacies

Candidacies for the awards can be presented on an individual or group basis, with all authors to gain express recognition. The awards are worth 40,000 euros overall in prize money, with 8,000 euros for each category, while the special prize from the jury involves no prize money.

Projects in the categories of social journalism and social communication must have been published, broadcast or disseminated between 16 December 2019 and 15 December 2020. For investigative journalism projects, these must be carried out in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 and must be submitted by 1 April 2022 at the very latest. This latter category is geared towards work in three specific fields: loneliness among children, young people, adults and the elderly; the digital divide and access to services and benefits from the administration, and the impact of Covid-19 on specific groups.

Work presented must be linked to the city of Barcelona. This applies to the topic addressed as well as the target audience or sphere of impact.

Full information on the Montserrat Roig Awards and the registration process can be found at: www.barcelona.cat/premis-montserrat-roig.

Awards for quality journalism

The Montserrat Roig Awards were conceived to promote quality of information, placing the focus on a better treatment of social issues in the media, and recognising the need for more deliberate and in-depth journalism on complex news.

While the Montserrat Roig Awards have been going in their present format for four years, the awards date back 28 years and are promoted by the Municipal Social Welfare Council (CMBS).