It’s raining awards in Johannesburg

The fourth Gender and Media Summit Awards in Johannesburg have honoured 17 journalists on issues ranging from xenophobia to female genital mutilation, recognising media practitioners based on their ability to mainstream gender issues into local reporting.

Fourteen women and three men walked off with awards in 20 categories following a soccer-themed celebration on the final day of the Fourth Gender and Media Summit convened by Gender Links, Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). Two media houses were also awarded with institutional excellence.

“These awards bring out the best of the media in the region,” said Kubi Rama, Gender Links deputy director. “We’re always so proud to showcase the talent found in the southern African media.”

The winners were chosen from more than 180 entries from 13 countries. There were 132 entries by women and 48 by men. Winners represented Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Mercedes Sayagues, chair of the judging panel, noted that the judges didn’t award prizes in some categories because “we felt the quality was not quite there.”

However, Sayagues said judges created a special category, called “Having a ball award”, which was given to Sister Namibia, for reportage with a humorous approach.

In the category of print news, South Africa’s Tanya Farber won for her story “Life lived in limbo” about the gender dimension of xenophobia.

In the opinion and commentary category, Namibia’s Sheena Magenya walked away with the prize for her piece discussing motherhood and the DRC’s Mila Paulo Kimbuini won in the French category for a story about gender-based violence.

Zeenat Abdool of South Africa won an award for a series of radio talk show stories on circumcision, female genital mutilation and terrorism. In the community radio category, Zimbabwe’s Emmanuel Nkomo won for his radio talk show exploring a personal look at issues of HIV and AIDS.

Lucilla Blankenberg of South Africa won the television documentary award for a touching documentary about gender-based violence, and Melini Moses of South Africa won in the “beats” category for her regular coverage of issues around gender-based violence, most particularly rape in marriage.

A special mention was given to Zambia’s Darlington Mwendabai for a story about gender-based violence through a man’s eyes. Fanjaniaina Saholiarisoa Alida of Madagascar won in the best practices category for a story about women in politics and decision-making.

Two winners were chosen in the investigative category of sustained reporting on a particular issue, both from South Africa. The team of Melini Moses and Busisiwe Ntuli won for their work around abused women and Laura Lopez Gonzalez won for her reporting about forced sterilisation of Namibian women.

Swaziland’s Alec Lushaba won the Business Unusual award for his piece about women’s minority status and how it impedes their economic ambitions.

In the Media Action Plan (MAP) categories, Lesotho’s People’s Choice radio won the award for HIV and AIDS and the Media Institutional Excellence Award for the creation of their gender-sensitive HIV and AIDS policy. The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) won for their progressive gender policy. Malawi’s Capital Radio was the runner-up in the category of media house gender policies.

Finally, a special award was given to Zimbabwe’s Joyce Jenje Makwenda for her commitment to writing on taboo issues such as menstruation and women in the shebeen business. The award was a new category, called the Triple T award – “tackling taboo topics”.