The tenth Annual Journalism Excellence Awards (AJEA) 2022 has entered its second and final phase of judging following completion of the nomination phase. The Seven-man nomination panel chaired by Owino Opondo sifted through the 1,240 entries over the last seven days, and handed over the list of outstanding stories for the second level of evaluation to the judging panel.
Mr Opondo and his team comprising Dr Rosemary Nyaole, Mwendwa Kiogora, Dr Jared Obuya, Betty Dindi, Eric Shimoli and David Okwembah inked their last on the submissions in the 18 categories of AJEA 2022.
“It is encouraging to see a general improvement in the quality of words, pictures and sounds we received. However, our work has exposed bare the yawning invite to journalists to up their game in the areas of sourcing, grammar, story structure, depth and width, and aesthetics of storytelling. In short, our journalism needs oomph,” Opondo said.
During the process, the panel looked at how the stories complied with journalism professional ethics, impact to society, and how they nudged the government into necessary action in service delivery.
Speaking at a meeting with AJEA 2022 nomination panel and the judging panel, Media Council of Kenya CEO Mr David Omwoyo said, “Your recommendations go a long way in improving the quality of our journalism. Even as you look for the best among the submissions, flag out the gaps you can pick to frame our interventions in capacity building and feedback to media houses”.
He said the Council takes pride in the fact that AJEA drives itself right from application through to judging exclusively on the online platform, adding that the process is accountable and verifiable.
The judging panel chaired by Judy Kaberia will spend the next seven days scrutinising shortlisted finalists’ stories to pick out the best story and two runners- up in each category. Ms Kaberia noted that the panel “wants to see quality at all stages of story development: research, sourcing, packaging, creativity and how the stories impact on the issues society faces”.
Other members of the judging panel include Wangethi Mwangi, Rachel Ombaka, Emmanuel Juma, Caleb Atemi, Njeri Rugene and Dr Joseph Nyanoti. Members of both the nominating and the judging panels are veteran journalists and academics.
Winners of the 10th AJEA will be announced and honoured on 6th May 2022 at the AJEA 2022 Gala Dinner.