By Irene Gaitirira
Published February 17, 2017
Journalists from across Africa are invited to apply for an award that aims to uncover and promote fresh journalism talent from the continent.
The deadline for sending in applications for the third BBC World News Komla Dumor Award is March 15, 2017 at 23.59GMT.
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Previous winners of the prize that was set up to honour the memory of Komla Dumor–a Ghanaian broadcaster who died unexpectedly at his peak the age of 41 in 2014–are Uganda’s Nancy Kacungira who worked worked for Kenya’s KTN TV as a news presenter and Nigeria’s Didi Akinyelure who worked for South Africa’s CNBC Africa TV in Nigeria in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
BBC, that launched the 3rd BBC World News Komla Dumor in Malawi’s commercial capital, Blantyre, on February 15, 2017, says both Kacungira and Akinyelure “used their time at the BBC to hone their journalism skills through training, workshops and mentorship.”
BBC says that it is, through the award, not just “committed to continuing Komla Dumor’s legacy” but that it also wants to “empower a new generation of journalists from Africa to tell African stories to global audiences.”
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Akinyelure,who took part in the launch of the award alongside Francesca Unsworth, Director, BBC World Service Group and Deputy Director of News and Current Affairs in Malawi, said, “I very much admired Komla Dumor, as did many people across Africa. He was, and continues to be, such an inspiration to journalists from across the continent, so it was an honour to be selected as last year’s award winner to continue his remarkable work. What was truly great about my placement at the BBC was how I was given the opportunity and freedom to tell African stories in the way Komla did; with integrity, impartiality and impact.”
On her part, Francesca Unsworth said: “The BBC is committed to continuing Komla’s legacy of reporting on Africa by launching his award for the third year. We have already awarded and hosted two exceptionally talented journalists, who were given the opportunity to train with us and report from Africa for our audiences across the BBC. It has been a pleasure getting to know both Nancy and Didi. It has also been great to learn from both our award winners, improving our engagement with local audiences.We’re looking forward to finding the next rising star in African journalism and welcoming them as the next BBC World News Komla Dumor Award winner.”
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Now open for applications, entrants have until 23.59GMT on 15th March 2017 to submit. The winner will spend three months at the BBC headquarters in New Broadcasting House in London, gaining skills and experience.
Detailed information on how to apply, including terms and conditions and entry criteria are available at careerssearch.bbc.co.uk/jobs/job/komlaaward/19947/.
