GIJ Wins 3rd ‘Newsroom Competition’

Islamic University College (IUC) couldn't match the challenge thrown by the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) at the just ended 3rd edition of the Newsroom Competition meant for communication schools.

The event which was held at the Accra International Press Center saw the GIJ emerged winners for the third time in a row.

The Institute put up a strong defence for the title which they won in 2015 and 2016, beating their grande finale challenger, Islamic University College (IUC) in an intellectually stimulating exercise.

At the end of the three-round thriller, GIJ emerged with 154 points while Islamic University College closed the event at 149 points.

The two tertiary institutions rose above five (5) universities to claim a place in the final to battle it out for the bragging rights.

This is not the first time the two institutions had come face to face in the competition’s finals as GIJ in 2016 defeated IUC to win their second trophy.

GIJ overcame its compatriot, Wisconsin International University College in its Semi-Final of this year’s contest whereas IUC beat African University College of Communications (AUCC) to land their place in their grande finale.

IUC was highly commended by the three-member editorial panel as having delivered a very impressive performance despite their inability to overpower GIJ in the contests.

The Newsroom competition is a simulated news reporting, Corporate Communication and Debating contest that brings universities that run communication programmes together in a battle for bragging rights and institutional clout, while giving students the opportunity to synthesize theory with practice.

Students and lecturers of GIJ

The performance of competing institutions is assessed by a judging panel composed of seasoned industry professionals.

At the end of the contest, representatives of each school team received assorted products from Unilever Ghana, while, in addition, GIJ took home the ultimate trophy sponsored by Access Bank.

The founder of the Newsroom Contest, Raymond Baxey, noted that plans are far afoot to establish Newsroom Clubs at various universities offering Communication and Media programmes. He also appealed to corporate Ghana to support the contest as a way of promoting quality in journalism training in the country.

“The objective of the Newsroom Contest has been to promote the hands-on approach to the studying of Communication, help students develop speed and accurate communication skills and quick thinking and analytical mind about things around them, while fostering healthy academic rivalry among Universities offering Communication programmes,” he said.

Other schools that feautred in this year’s competition are University for Professional Studies – Accra, Wisconsin University, Jayee University Central University, Methodist University College and Sikkim Manipal University (SMU).

The Newsroom competition is organized by Cheetah Communications.

---CitinewsRoom