Six (6) teams have emerged winners in the 2022 Hostwriter Story Prize.
Grants of €1,000 is awarded to each of the winners of the 2022 Story Prize.
Most of the Story Prize winners used Hostwriter in some way to develop and realise their stories. All stories have been a co-authored collaboration between journalists worldwide.
Winners Of 2022 Hostwriter Story Prize
- James Ojo, Tunde Omolehin and Chinedu Asadu for their story: Bribes, cartel and conspiracy… inside Nigeria’s booming petrol smuggling trade
Annually, Nigeria spends trillions of Naira to subsidize fuel. In 2022 alone, the country will allocate an estimated ₦4 trillion to fuel subsidies. Unfortunately, many are taking advantage of the initiative to enrich themselves.
For over three months, this team went undercover in Benin Republic, Cameroon, and Niger Republic to document how people smuggle fuel across Nigeria’s borders in well-coordinated operations with support from security operatives.
James Ojo is an internationally published journalist with TheCable, Africa’s leading online newspaper. He is passionate about development-related issues and fostering transparency in society through his reports.
Tunde Omolehin is an investigative journalist and long-time correspondent with leading Nigerian news outlets. His interests include environmental crimes, migration, conflicts, climate change, and open contract reporting. His works focus on the plight of underserved communities in northern Nigeria.
Chinedu Asadu is an award-winning investigative journalist. He is currently a Nigerian correspondent for The Associated Press (AP). Chinedu has produced impactful stories on conflict, migration and internal displacement, the legislature, the environment, health, and education.
- Niyi Oyedeji and Sahar Al Shameri for their report: How inflation is driving a new wave of malnutrition in Yemen, Nigeria
Amidst insurgency and weak local currency troubling Nigeria and Yemen, this collaborative cross-border story highlights how soaring food prices predispose more households to malnutrition. The two journalists traveled to the region where malnutrition is rampant in their respective countries to document how people are battling for survival.
Sahar Mohammed is a Yemeni journalist interested in health and environment-related stories. Her stories have been featured on many local and international platforms. In 2019, she was selected for the MENA environmental journalism fellowship with Climate tracker. Sahar’s piece on women and water won the MENA Blue Peace Open Eye Award from KAS & Cewa’s organizations in 2020.
Niyi Oyedeji is an award-winning Nigerian journalist with a blazing passion for investigative journalism, human rights advocacy, and sustainable development. He is a 2019 fact-checking fellow with Dubawa, Nigeria’s first indigenous fact-checking and verification platform; a 2020 energy reporting fellow with Climate Tracker; a 2021 Solutions Journalism Network (SJN) mentorship graduate, and more.
- Rudi Bressa, Guillaume Pajot and Sarah Tekath for their investigation: Così l’Italia importa il legno e finanzia il regime illegale del Myanmar
- Makepeace Sitlhou and Ninglun Hanghal for their story: On a remote Indian border, Myanmar’s refugee doctors battle growing needs
- Samik Kharel and Roshan Sedhai for their story: Nepalis Feel the Human Toll of Qatar’s World Cup
- Nicole Graaf and Emre Caylak for their project: Paths of Plastic
About Hostwriter
Hostwriter is an open network that helps journalists easily collaborate across borders. We connect more than 6600 journalists from 158 countries to seek and offer help, whether in the form of local advice, story collaboration, or accommodation. We see cross-border journalism as a tool to overcome national bias and prejudice, ultimately contributing towards better informed, more accountable, and democratic societies.
