On the brink of a global population milestone, Helium, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and Population Services International are launching a new writing contest to spark thoughtful discussion of this important topic. The "World Population Approaches 7 Billion" writing contest, which is sponsored in part by two of Helium's nonprofit partners: -- Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and Population Services International (PSI) -- invites writers from all over the world to submit magazine-style articles on Helium.com on up to four topics related to population growth, family size and family planning.
"As a nonprofit organization with 40 years' experience in global health, PSI is pleased to partner with the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting and Helium to discuss the timely and very important topic of the world's population reaching 7 billion," said Marshall Stowell, director of corporate marketing and communications at PSI.
"Partnering with Helium gives us the opportunity to engage audiences in a new and meaningful way," said Jon Sawyer, the Pulitzer Center's executive director. "When someone writes an essay on a topic such as water sanitation, it shows engagement with a global crisis we have worked hard to spotlight. The center looks forward to sponsoring more writing contests with Helium in the future."
The contest begins on Wednesday, June 8, and submissions will be accepted for two weeks. Writers are encouraged to utilize and cite relevant data and statistics. Both during the submission period and for one week after it, Helium community members will rate the entries through Helium's patented rating process.
At the end of the rating period, the top four articles in each category will be evaluated by a panel of distinguished judges from PSI and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. The judges will select the winning article, which will be published in PSI's print magazine, "Impact," as well as on the Pulitzer Center's website, pulitzercenter.org.
In addition, writers will have several other opportunities to win. The article ranked highest by Helium members in each of the four categories will be published on PSI's Healthy Lives blog, and two exciting prizes will be given out based on a leader board that factors in a writer's ranking for submissions in all four topics. First prize will be a 16GB Apple® iPad™ with Wi-Fi. Second prize will be a Velocity Micro 7-inch Cruz Digital Reader, an Android-based tablet.
Interested writers can find out more about entering the contest at helium.com/journalism-awards/world-population-contest and can join Helium by visiting helium.com/registration/signup.
For more information, contact Anne Campbell at Helium at acampbell@helium.com.
More about Helium:
Helium is the world's largest community of writers. Since its inception in 2006, Helium's writers have published more than 2 million articles on roughly 318,000 unique topics. Each month more than 5 million people visit Helium.com to read articles on a range of subjects from careers to home and garden, parenting, politics and more. Helium writers earn money and establish credibility by publishing articles on Helium, securing writing assignments with publishers through Helium's freelance Content Source, competing in writing contests and engaging in civilized debate around the issues and causes that are most important to them. Helium is a privately held, privately funded company headquartered in Andover, Mass. For more information, please visit Helium.com or check out the official blog at heliumblog.wordpress.com.
More about the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting:
The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting promotes in-depth engagement with global affairs through its sponsorship of quality international journalism across all media platforms and an innovative program of outreach and education. To learn more, visit pulitzercenter.org or read their Untold Stories blog at pulitzercenter.org/untold-stories.
More about Population Services International:
PSI is a leading global health organization with programs targeting malaria, child survival, HIV, reproductive health and non-communicable diseases. Working in partnership within the public and private sectors, and harnessing the power of markets, PSI provides life-saving products, clinical services and behavior change communications that empower the world's most vulnerable populations to lead healthier lives. To learn more about PSI, visit psi.org or read their Healthy Lives blog at psihealthylives.com.
Contacts:
Helium
Anne Campbell, 978-474-5074
acampbell@helium.com