Finalists in the 19th installment of the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards have been announced with 9 Kenyans journalists making it to the list.
The 9 Kenyan journalists are Bob Koigi of Farmbizafrica.com, Anne Mawathe and Rashid Ibrahim (Citizen TV), Patrick Mayoyo (Daily Nation), John Muchangi Njiru, (The Star Newspaper), Joseph Mathenge, (Freelance for The Saturday Nation), Evelyn Watta (Sportsnewsarena.com) and Christine Muthee and Oliver Oscar Ochanda (MEDEVA).
Together with the other finalists, they will enjoy an all-expenses paid four day programme of workshops, media forums and networking in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania culminating in a Gala Award Ceremony on Saturday 18 October 2014. ‘CNN NewsCenter’ anchor Isha Sessay will host the Gala Award Ceremony.
This year the competition received entries from 38 countries across the continent, including French and Portuguese speaking Africa. There are 28 finalists from 10 countries.
Entries were published or broadcast in 2013 for the following awards: The Coca-Cola Company Economics & Business Award; Culture Award;Mohamed Amin Photographic Award; Environment Award; Press Freedom Award; MSD Health & Medical Award; Sport Reporting Award; News Impact Award; GE Energy & Infrastructure Award; Francophone General News Awards; Portuguese Language General News Awards.
The other finalists from 10 countries are:
- Daniel Biaou Adje, ORTB, Benin
- Safia Berkouk, El Watan, Algeria
- Vinayak Bhardwaj & Tabelo Timse, M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism, Mail & Guardian, South Africa
- Romão Brandão, Jornal OPAÃS, Angola
- Sean Christie, Freelance for Landbouweekblad and The Mail & Guardian, South Africa
- Obinna Emelike, Business Day, Nigeria
- Ben Ezeamalu & Emmanuel Ogala, Premium Times, Nigeria
- Dickson Ng’hily, The Guardian, Tanzania
- Olatunji Ololade, The Nation Newspaper, Nigeria
- Bayo Olupohunda, Columnist, Punch Newspaper, Nigeria
- Ossène Ouattara, Infoduzanzan.com, Côte d’Ivoire
- Brito Simango, Televisão de Moçambique, Moçambique
- Joy Summers & Susan Comrie, Mnet Carte Blanche, South Africa
- Suy Kahofi, Freelance for West Africa Democracy Radio, Senegal
- Paballo Thekiso, Saturday Star, South Africa
- Bento Venancio, Jornal Domingo, Moçambique
Announcing the finalists, Haffajee said: “2013 was a huge news year, and the stories from our continent set a global agenda. The judges were pleased with the quality of entries, and were impressed by the depth of specialist beat reporting. In addition, they noted the growing sophistication of the use of images and pictures across all platforms.â€
Announcing the finalists, chairperson of the independent judging panel Ferial Haffajee said: “2013 was a huge news year, and the stories from our continent set a global agenda. The judges were pleased with the quality of entries, and were impressed by the depth of specialist beat reporting. In addition, they noted the growing sophistication of the use of images and pictures across all platforms.â€
The sponsors for the awards are: The Coca-Cola Company; Ecobank; GE Africa; IPP Media, Tanzania; Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) and A24 Media.