Tell Africa stories, UK envoy challenges scribers

BRITISH High Commissioner to Tanzania David Concar has encouraged Tanzanian journalists to apply for the BBC News Komla Dumor Award in building up their profiles and creating exceptional talent in the journalism profession.

Ambassador Concar made the appeal at the launch of the 2023 BBC News Komla Dumor Award, which took place yesterday for the first time in the country’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam since it was introduced in 2015.

In enrolling for the award, the Diplomat who formerly worked as a journalist appealed to the scribes to think about telling their stories in line with the legacy that Komla left behind.

“The journalism profession is marred with many challenges globally including disinformation, lack of financing to support investigative journalism taking into account that in different parts of the world, journalists struggle with difficult working conditions, unreliable pay and struggle accessing support in professional development,” said the Ambassador.

He indicated that despite the challenges, at the same time journalists are expected by their bosses and viewers to work often in dangerous places exposing them to greater risks, intimidation for vested interests, noting that covering some of the most challenging stories in difficult circumstances was very demanding.

As such, Ambassador Concar was of the view that high quality journalism needs to show that Africa is about much more than poverty, famine and conflicts.

“It needs to tell all the stories that matter about African innovation, businesses, economies, entrepreneurs, music, films and sports among much more which are beneficial to the continent and its people.

Earlier on, the Head of BBC Africa Ms Juliet Njeri also called upon journalists to apply for the prestigious prize, which seeks to promote and celebrate outstanding journalistic talents living and working in Africa and reporting in English.

“Outlining the As part of the award, the winner will spend three months working in the BBC with news teams in London across television, radio and online.

“They will be given the opportunity to further develop their journalism skills through training, workshops and mentoring with leading BBC journalists. The successful candidate will also have the opportunity to travel to a country in Africa to report on a story that they generate and research, which will be broadcast to the BBC’s global audience,” she said.

For her part, Senior Controller of BBC News International Services and Director of the BBC World Service, Liliane Landor indicated that the application will close on February 1, 2023 at 23:59 GMT time.

“We are proud to launch the 2023 BBC News Komla Dumor Award. The award and our previous winners are a fitting testament to Komla’s dedication to telling African stories with depth and integrity. I am looking forward to welcoming this year’s winner and I strongly encourage journalists from across Africa to apply.”

She advised journos to visit the BBC.com/KomlaDumor for more information about the award, including how to apply, entry criteria, and terms and conditions.

The event also featured presenting an award to the 2022 winner Dingindaba Buyoya from Zambia who travelled to the Seychelles to report on how the country’s ocean plants can help tackle climate change.

On his side, Dingindaba said: “Komla Dumor was an inspiration to me, so to win the award and take part in his legacy has been an honour. I encourage African journalists to apply for the awards, it’s an incredible way to learn and further develop skills needed to tell even more ground-breaking stories in Africa.”