Graphic Reporters win big at Inclusive and Anti-Conflict Journalism Awards
Two journalists of the Daily Graphic have been honoured with prestigious awards at the 2nd Inclusive and Anti-Conflict Journalism Awards in Ghana, held in Accra last Tuesday.
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The journalists are Mohammed Fugu, a Northern Regional correspondent, and Timothy Ngnenbe, a Greater Accra Regional correspondent. Mr Fugu and Mr Ngnenbe emerged winner and runner-up respectively in the newspaper category with Mohammed winning the overall best reporter award at the end of the occasion.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Fugu, who also won two similar awards last year, encouraged Ghanaian journalists to collaborate to make a real impact in society. "We do not need to see journalism as a competition. We should treat it more or less as collaborative work. That is how we can affect society positively,” he said.
His work which won him the award was titled "Trapped in Crossfire" and highlighted the impact of the Bawku conflict on Persons living with Disabilities. The event was organised by the Media Platform on Environment and Climate Change (MPEC) in collaboration with the Minority Rights Group, Africa (MRGA). Its purpose is to recognise and honour journalists in Ghana who work to raise public awareness of issues about climate change, conflict, migration and minority groups in the country.
Other Winners
This year's awards scheme received about 41 applications as compared to 30 applications from last year. Out of these applications, six finalists including Mohammed and Timothy were honoured.
The online category had Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen of Apexnewsgh as the winner and Anthony Adongo Apubeo of Ghana News Agency as the runner-up. The television category had Emmanuel Bright Quaicoe and Mona Lisa Frimpong, both of Joy News, as winner and runner-up respectively.
Responsibility
Speaking on the theme, "Deepening quality and ethical journalism to address conflict and minority exclusion," the Executive Director of MPEC, Mary Ama Kudom-Agyemang, charged journalists to keep playing their role through public education on climate change, conflict and minority issues.
"We, as media, should play our part and highlight these issues very well and educate the public to make responsible decisions on these issues," she said. For his part, a former president of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Affail Monney, who chaired the occasion, also urged the winners to be more persistent in their advocacy of those topics.
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"Sharpen your focus on these critical issues. Never cease to advocate for them until you see a change. That is how you merit winning these awards," he said. The General Secretary of the GJA, Kofi Yeboah, also entreated journalists not to neglect coverage of the positive aspects of these issues altogether.
"We should not focus on only the negatives. There are positive things also happening. For instance, how people are leveraging climate change to do positive things, and also the achievements of individuals in minority groups," he advised.