When you tune in(we know you will) to the ‘live’ judging of POY Asia, don’t be surprised to hear some of these commonly used phrases.
For example, ‘conflict of interest’.
The photojournalism and documentary community is small and very interconnected so it is normal for a judge to have a ‘conflict of interest’. What does it mean?
When a judge is closely related to a participant or was involved in the commissioning or editing of a work, he or she has to declare it. Merely knowing a participant personally does not constitute a ‘conflict of interest’.
To avoid complications, we have encouraged judges from the start not to be involved in editing or giving advice to participants.
At the appropriate point/s during the judging, you will hear the moderator asking, “Does anyone have a conflict of interest?” Very often, judges will declare to the group without prompting.
But this usually happens in the later half within a category when an entry is still in contention for an award and when the judges start discussing the individual work.
Once a judge declares a ‘conflict of interest’, he or she will sit out of that particular round of voting and discussion.
If a picture is subsequently voted out, the same judge can rejoin the discussion and voting.
