Business Editor Wins International Award

The Business Editor of Daily Guide, Felix Dela Klutse, has emerged winner of the 2011 Citi Journalistic Excellence Awards (CJEA)

The Business Editor of Daily Guide, Felix Dela Klutse, has emerged winner of the 2011 Citi Journalistic Excellence Awards (CJEA), a statement from the award sponsor, Citi Bank, has said.

The Citi Journalistic Excellence Awards, which has been running globally since 1982 in many countries where Citi Bank operates, is an elite programme administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and sponsored by Citi Bank, which is the leading global financial services company with approximately 200 million customer accounts and operates in more than 160 countries.

For almost three decades, the competition has brought a group of winning business journalists from all corners of the world to New York, where they are given the opportunity to meet and interact with leaders in the fields of finance, journalism and government during a 10-day intensive training course dubbed: 'International Journalists Seminar.'

The award was launched in Ghana, this year and Mr Klutse, who is also the Editor of Business Guide, a publication of Western Publications Limited, has been emerged winner from Ghana, making him the first Ghanaian journalist to win the award since its inception.

His article: 'Is Government Losing Fight Against Poverty,' made him to grab this enviable award.

Mr. Klutse will join other 19 award winners across the globe in New York, USA for the award ceremony in the first week of June, this year and subsequently attend the 10-day International Journalists Seminar run by Columbia University.

A panel of judges, which included Ben E. Oghojafor, professor and Dean of the University of Lagos' Faculty of Business Administration and Osayi Alile-Oruene, executive director of Fate Foundation, among others had first screened all entries from Ghana and Nigeria and selected those to be sent to Columbia University which selected the final winners.

To ensure a fair and unbiased selection process, all entries were submitted anonymously to the panelists who were only able to identify the entries by the numbers assigned to them.

Funmi Ogunlesi, executive director and chief operating officer of Citi Bank Nigeria said: 'Citi Bank is proud of another successful run of the Citi Journalistic Excellence Awards and look forward to running this programme for many years to come.'

We believe that such capacity building programmes can only serve to improve the knowledge and exposure of business journalists who are key in shaping the perception of our industry and the economic profile of the country, Funmi Ogunlesi added.

Recently, Mr Klutse's contribution towards the promotion of businesses in Africa through his articles was recognized when Diageo Plc, the world no.1 beverage producer awarded him the Best Business News Reporter in Africa for 2010 at a ceremony in London.

Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards are dedicated to honouring journalists and media organisations that have gone the extra mile to promote the African continent.

In 2010, Mr Klutse beat journalists from publications across the African continent and international media outlets such as The Economists, Reuters and British Broadcasting Corporation to win this enviable award.

He is the first Ghanaian Journalist to win the Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards since its inception in 2003.

By Charles Nixon Yeboah