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NAIROBI. — Two Kenyan investigative reporters, Adow Jubat and Paul Wafula, have each won the honourable mention at a global media awards competition, as the results of the World Media Summit (WMS) Global Awards for Excellence 2014 were released on Monday.
Both from the Standard Media Group, they have received Honourable Mentions of Award for Exemplary News Professionals in Developing Countries and Honourable Mentions of Media Innovation Award respectively and a prize of US$5 000 each.

“Winning the award has rejuvenated my passion for journalism and I hope to use the cash prize to re-invest in my journalism career. I’m indebted to all those who had been on my side to reach this far,” said Adow Jubat.

The award, launched by the WMS, is the first comprehensive news awards covering multiple media formats, including press, photography, video and integrated media. Designed to be an authoritative, credible and globally influential news showcase, the awards are open to news agencies, newspapers, TV stations and news websites around the world.

There are three categories in the competition: New Media Reporting Award, Media Innovation Award and Awards for Public Welfare, which include two sub-categories: Award for Exemplary News Teams in Developing Countries and Award for Exemplary News Professionals in Developing Countries.

“The creation of the awards has epoch-making significance,” said Li Congjun, WMS executive chairman, chairman of the judging committee and president of Xinhua News Agency.

“It encourages all people working in the media to keep developing their professional skills and pursue excellence, while inspiring media set-ups to work with the times in the spirit of innovation, and to be active in our social responsibilities and public welfare,” Li said at the end of the judges’ meeting.

Judges from the WMS presidium member organisations, including The Associated Press, Tass Russian News Agency, Kyodo News, Al Jazeera Media Network and Kasturi & Sons Limited, and specially invited veteran judges from internationally renowned media organisations, including Agence France-Presse, Polish Press Agency, Hearst Corporation and Paris Match joined the board of judges. David Schlesinger, former Editor-in-chief of Reuters News, and Jack Gao, former Senior Vice President of News Corporation, were also on the board.

“I was pleased to see that people took the awards very seriously and submitted excellent work and gave us very good pieces to choose from,” Schlesinger said.

Stressing that the media is undergoing great change, he said “it is fascinating to see what different companies and journalists around the world are doing in terms of innovation to change themselves for the better.”

The awards have also garnered extensive support from WMS presidium member organisations and many international media organisations. During entry submission period, over 450 news organisations and more than 500 news practitioners from 138 countries and regions have submitted 1 424 entries in total. — Xinhua.