Kenya retained the overall Journalist of the Year award at the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2012 Awards held in Lusaka, Zambia. Tom Mboya and Evanson Nyaga’s The African Tribe in India, which aired on Kenya’s Citizen Television, won the top prize. Five other Kenyan journalists were also feted.
The Star newspaper science journalist John Muchangi won the HIV and Aids reporting award for his story Inside the life of a Nairobi male sex worker (http://bit.ly/MCpADY).
The judges said that through his compelling writing the journalist, who is also a Knight Science Journalism fellow, bravely highlight a new group at high risk of HIV.
“I view the award as the beginning’ of a journey. A promise to consistently deliver better stories to my readers. I have to raise the bar because upcoming journalists may also begin to use my work as benchmark of ideal journalism,” says the Internews alumnus.
“The story that won took several months to build and I met several sources and settled on two who sex workers. The story was controversial because many people could not believe male sex workers exist and do ‘business’ in Nairobi. My editor was absolutely generous to publish it because I’m told such a subject would hardly see the light of the day elsewhere,” he adds.
NTV’s Nimrod Taabu Mwagamoyo and Charles Kinyua Kariuki won the TV News Bulletin Award while Citizen’s sports journalist Waihiga Mwaura together with cameraman Jephitha Mwai scooped the Sports Journalist of the year award.
Mboya and Evanson, who were among 34 finalists for the top prize, also won the Television Features Award.
We congratulate the winners for making Kenya proud.
For more on the awards visit:
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/22/world/africa/african-journalist-awards/index.html
http://www.citizennews.co.ke/news/2012/local/item/2567-citizen-tv-journalists-scoop-top-cnn-awards
