GJA Releases 2010 Award Winners

The Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) has maintained its dominance of the media landscape by sweeping eight awards announced by the Ghana Journalists Association Monday.

While the Daily Graphic was nominated for an institutional award, seven journalists within the fold of the GCGL were also selected for the awards ceremony slated for September 9, 2011 at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Accra.

The nominees from the GCGL are as follows: Lucy Adoma Yeboah/Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho for a joint award, Kofi Yeboah, Charles Benoni Okine, Naa Lamiley Bentil, William Asiedu (The Mirror) and Vicky Wereko-Andoh, a columnist of the Daily Graphic.

Another award won by journalists of the GCGL was labelled as Team Graphic because the article was written by five journalists. They are Kofi Yeboah, Emmanuel Bonney, Victor Kwawukume, Vincent Amenueveve and Nana Konadu Agyeman.

Other award winners from the various media houses include: last year’s Journalist of the Year, Samuel Agyeman and Eric Adjei Ansah of Metro TV; Edward Nyarko, Dominic Hlodze and Manasseh Awuni (Freelancer) of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation; Hannah Asomaning, Caesar Abagali and Kafui Kanyi of the Ghana News Agency; Sammy Darko and Kwaku Owusu Pepprah of Joy FM; Sylvanus Kumi, Business Guide, and Charles Takyi Boadu, Daily Guide.

The rest are Edmund Smith-Asante, Ghana Business News; Fati Shaibu Ali, Etv; Richard Skyy, Citi FM; Odelia Ofori, TV3; Asamoah Tuffour, Ghanaian Times; Kofi Enchill, Heritage; Sammy Dowuona, Adom FM; Bashiru Adam, Public Agenda, while Business and Financial Times, Radio Peace and Unique FM have been nominated for institutional awards.

Despite a reduction in the number of categories from 39 in 2010 to 36 in 2011, the total number of applicants rose from 271 to 302.

While no entry was received for Science Reporting, there were no awards for Photojournalism, Parliamentary Reporting, the Morning Show, and Online Journalism, since the committee felt that the selection criteria had not been met.

The applicants were assessed on their ability to demonstrate high levels of accuracy, balance, relevance and language in their writings. The social impact of the story and its effect on society and the journalist’s initiative in developing the story beyond the assignment, were also considered.

The awards committee was interested in journalists whose writings complied with ethical standards, entries that safeguarded the innocent and treated sensitive issues with dignity. The committee emphasised that successful applicants were those who wrote truthful and valid stories.

The Chairman of the 11-member committee, Mr Edward Ameyibor, who announced the list of the winners, said the fact that the regional spread of entries was minimal indicated that there were few stories that adopted a rural theme while rural and regional radio stations did not seem to attempt at vying for the awards.

The Vice-President of the GJA, Mr Affail Monney, commended the award committee for its work and described them as men and women of solidity whose contribution to the growth of journalism could not be downplayed.

A representative from the title sponsors of the event, MTN, Ms Gina Fiagbenu, pledged the company’s commitment to promote capacity building for Ghanaian journalists.

She urged journalists to strive for specialisation which she noted was a means to deepen and expand their areas of interest.

Meanwhile, Tullow Oil has presented a cheque for GH¢5,000 to support the awards ceremony.