By Kumba Leigh
The Gambia Press Union has briefed the media about the 2024 Journalism Award ceremony.
The Vice President of the Union, Isatou Keita said they are on the final stage of preparations towards accepting applications for the various award categories, and confirming a panel of judges consisting of independent media experts. She promised that the names and detailed biographies of the judges will be promptly published on their website.
This year’s event, she said will feature 15 distinct award categories, excluding the special GPU awards in recognition of outstanding journalistic achievements. The awards include Business and Finance Reporting, Sports Reporting Award, Environment Reporting, Investigative Reporting, Health and Medical Reporting, Women’s Reporting, Children’s Reporting, Tourism, Culture, Arts and Entertainment Reporting, Agriculture Reporting, Political Reporting, Human Rights Reporting, Legal Affairs Reporting, Photo Journalism award, Security Reporting, and Tax Reporting.
Other awards, she highlighted include journalist of the year award, Community Radio of the year, Radio station of the year, TV station of the year, Online platform of the year, and Newspaper of the year. All of these, she said will be subjected to public voting.
Miss Keita said the judges will be entrusted with the vital task of receiving and evaluating all entries, ultimately determining the most deserving recipients of the awards, while not losing sight of accuracy and relevance, grammar, style, presentation, the impact of the story, creativity, and originality.
She assured that the judges to be selected will maintain complete independence in their roles, and that their decisions and evaluations will remain untouched by any external influence, while ensuring impartial and fair process.
Commenting on the committee, the VP said this year’s award committee comprises of 10 individuals and operates independently of the GPU and sustains its fundraising and financial activities autonomously.
“Therefore our mission revolves around acknowledging and commending excellence within journalism, honouring the impactful work of journalists, while simultaneously nurturing a culture of excellence within the profession,” she stated.
Miss Keita used the opportunity to shed light on the promised two-week visit to Pakistan last year for awardees.
She said they had to call off that plan due to security issues in Pakistan, as revealed by their investigation.
She said they had felt the need to offer such opportunity to winners to improve their skills, and acquire knowledge. However, she affirmed that some journalists among the winners did some research about Pakistan and flagged the insecurities of the country.
“We will not want to put the lives of journalists at risk. We had to stop the trip from progressing, because we had several doubts about the insecurities around it,” she said.
