The President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, has launched the 27th GJA Awards slated for Saturday, October 28, 2023 in Accra.
Mr. Dwumfour, in his address at the launch in Accra, last week, explained the essence of the awards, which is to promote professional excellence and high journalistic standards.
He said the GJA Media Awards is organised annually to achieve one of the key objectives of the Association, under Article 3(j) of the GJA Constitution 2004, which mandates the National Executives to “Reward and Honor outstanding members periodically.”
The theme for this year’s awards:‘Leveraging media freedom to sustain the democratic and security architecture: The litmus test of 2024 elections’, according to the President, was chosen to prepare journalists for the impending elections in December 2024.
“We want journalists to be well-prepared for their upcoming duties and to provide extensive, thorough and impartial election coverage in order to mark yet another milestone in our democratic dispensation,” he added.
The current administration of the Association, the President said, is very much committed to the promotion of professional excellence and high journalistic standards, saying “it is in this light that the GJA is delighted about the exploits of Paa Kwesi Asare of Media General, in winning this year’s BBC Komla Dumor Award.
“In the eight years history of the prestigious award, in honor of the renowned Ghanaian broadcast journalist, this is the first time a Ghanaian journalist has emerged as the winner,” he said.
“On behalf of the leadership of the GJA, I wish to congratulate Paa Kwesi on this memorable achievement,” he said.
“Whilst urging him to climb higher, we believe his remarkable achievement will encourage others to also raise the bar of excellence and win similar awards. “ he added.
Among the 34 categories of this year’s awards, some, according to the president, have been redefined to make them more purposeful.
Some of the newly introduced categories is the Best Radio/TV Programme for Ghanaian Languages, which has merged all the previous categories for Best Radio/TV Programme in six local languages as one category.
“So whether it is Ga, Ewe, Nzema, Twi, Hausa, Dagbani or Krobo, they will all compete for one category.” Mr. Dwumfour explained.
He further explained that the Best Student Journalist of the Year category has been reintroduced this year.
“We want to encourage trainee journalists to have a strong appetite for professional excellence and high journalistic standards, even before they join the world of work and the decision also falls within our membership drive agenda, which is to encourage trainee journalists and practitioners to join the GJA,” he stressed.
“Another innovation in this year’s awards is the online entry system, which provides an online platform for the submission of entries,” he said.
He added that application to receive entries opened on August 24, 2023 and closes on Wednesday, September 13, 2023 without any further extension.
Mr. Dwumfour, therefore, encouraged members to file their entries early to avoid disappointment, advising members to secure strong internet connection for easy and fast submission of entries.
He called on all corporate organisations to also come on board with sponsorship to ensure the success of the awards.
“We appreciate your support over the years and we trust you will continue to partner with us to raise the bar of excellence in journalism,” he said.
The Executive Director of EOCO, COP Maame Tiwaa Addo Dankwa, in her remarks, revealed EOCO’s assurance to sponsor the Crime/Court Reporting category of this year’s awards.
She said the decision came as a result of EOCO’s passion against crimes, especially cyber related crimes, where people sit in the comfort of their homes and commit crimes.
“Fighting crime is everybody’s responsibility, where we have to take our personal security into our own hands because we cannot leave everything in the hands of the law enforcers”
The Executive Director added that the crime stories will be used as a public education against cyber crimes and advised the general public to be mindful of their online dealings.
She, however, called on all media practitioners to not hesitate to contact EOCO on any
crime investigations that they are taking to seek the needed clarifications.
Attached is the full awards category.
GHANA JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEDIA AWARDS 2023
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS & RULES
The competition is open to members in good standing who are working in the print (including news agency), electronic and online media in Ghana.
The competition is open for works published in 2022.
Members of the National Executive and the GJA Media Awards Committee are not eligible to contest.
Entries should cover works published from January l, 2022 to December 31, 2022. Entrants may submit entries for a maximum of two categories, and not more than two published works should be submitted for each category.
However, one work shall not be entered in more than one category.
Entrants should submit clear, original published work of each entry.
Entrants must upload a clear passport size photo for their entries.
Student journalists must upload a scanned copy of their Student ID Card for their entries.
Entrants are advised to secure strong Internet connection to ensure easy and fast uploading of entries.
The deadline for submission of entries is at September 8, 2023.
Entries/Nominations should be titled ‘GJA MEDIA AWARDS 2023′
The GJA is NOT bound to give an award in a category if it does not merit one.
The Awards Committee shall select the overall best story from the various categories for consideration by the National Executive as winner of the P. A. V. Ansah Journalist of the Year.
The Awards Committee shall select the best story by a female journalist from the various categories for consideration by the National Executive as winner of the Best Female Journalist of the Year.
The Awards Committee shall select the best story by a young journalist from the various categories for consideration by the National Executive as winner of the Komla Dumor Most Promising Journalist of the Year.
The Awards Committee shall select the best story by a student journalist from the various categories for consideration by the National Executive as winner of the Best Journalist of the Year.
BIO DATA
NAME
DATE OF BIRTH
MEDIA ORGANISATION
POSTAL ADDRESS
EMAIL ADDRESS
REGION OF WORK
TYPE OF MEDIA (State-owned / Private-owned)
NATURE OF MEDIA (Print / Television / Radio / Online)
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF STORY (January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022)
DATE OF ENTRY FOR AWARDS
AWARDS CATEGORIES
DIVISION ONE (SEPARATE AWARDS)
i. NEWS (Print, Television, Radio, Online)
ii. FEATURES (Print, Television, Radio, Online)
iii. DOCUMENTARIES (Television, Radio)
COLUMNIST (Print)
DIVISION TWO (BEATS) (One award for each category)
i. SPORTS
ii. EDUCATION
iii. INVESTIGAT
PHOTOJOURJALISM
v. ARTS / ENTERTAINMENT vi. BUSINESS / ECONOMIC
vii. ENVIRONMENT / SCIENCE viii. HEALTH
AGRICULTURE / FOOD SECURITY
x. DEMOCRACY & GOOD GOVERNANCE GENDER
xii. CRIME / COURT
DIVISION THREE (SPECIAL CAMPAIGN) (One award for each category)
i. SABILITY
ii. 0MEgr1c
iii. TOURISM
iv. ROAD SAFETY
v. ILLEGAL MINING
DIVISION FOUR (PROGRAMMES& LAYOUT) (One award for each category)
i. BEST RADIO/TV PROGRAMME (GHANAIAN LANGUAGES) ii. BEST RADIO/TV PROGRAMME (ENGLISH LANGUAGE) iii. BEST NEWSPAPER LAYOUT (PRINT)
DIVISION FIVE (PROMISING JOURNALIST)
i. BEST STUDENT JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR (Open to students of accredited journalism / communication training institutions whose works were published in 2022. Such entrants must upload a scanned copy of a valid student’s identity card to support their entry) ii. CJA/KOMLA DUMOR MOST PROMISING JOURNALIST OF THEYEAR(Open to journalists of the Association with not more than three years’ experience)
ii. BEST FEMALE JOURNALIST (Open to female journalists of the Association with not more than ten years’ experience)
DIVISION SIX (JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR)
i. GJA/P.A.V. ANSAH JOURNALIST OF THE YEAR
Kofi eboah
(General Secretary)
