CNN MULTICHOICE AFRICAN JOURNALIST AWARDS 2012: CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES EXTENDED TO WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY 2012

CNN International and MultiChoice this week extended the deadline for entries for the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2012 Awards.  
 

Fatuma Noor, who worked for The Star Kenya, was awarded the top prize at the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2011 Awards ceremony.
 

Fatuma won for her investigative three-part series on the ‘Al-Shabaab’, which was chosen from among 1407 entries from 42 nations across the African continent.
 

Fatuma said: “Winning the CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards was the best platform for my career. With the Award came the best opportunities, and I have been able to do so much more since. It was a great opportunity meeting other brilliant journalists, all of us working towards telling our own important stories. The Award is a dream for any African journalist.”

Over the past 17 years, the competition has grown in size and status to become Africa’s most prestigious media event.
 

In 2011, a ‘Highlights Programme’ of the ceremony, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, was broadcast in 47 African countries, on the Africa Channel in the US, UK and the Caribbean and RTP Africa.
 

The competition recognises excellence in the following categories:
·    Arts & Culture Award
·    Digital Journalism Award 
·    The Coca-Cola Company Economics and Business Award
·    Environment Award
·    Free Press Africa Award
·    The HIV/AIDS Reporting Award
·    Mohamed Amin Photographic Award
·    MSD Health & Medical Award
·    Print General News Award
·    Radio General News Award
·    Sport Award
·    Television Features Award
·    Television News Bulletin Award
·    Tourism Award
·    Francophone General News Awards 
·    Portuguese Language General News Award 

From these category winners, the judges choose The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2012.

Finalists in the 2012 competition will participate in a finalists’ programme that will include a media forum and networking opportunities with senior journalists, editors, business leaders and media owners from across the continent, culminating in a gala awards ceremony. All finalists receive a cash prize and each category winner also receives a laptop and printer.  The CNN MultiChoice African Journalist 2012 will receive an additional cash prize and will have the opportunity to participate in the CNN Journalism Fellowship at CNN Headquarters in Atlanta.
 

The CNN MultiChoice competition is now in its 17th year. The prestigious sponsors include: African Development Bank; Coca-Cola Africa; Ecobank, Ericsson; IPP Media, Tanzania; Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD); SuperSport; UNICEF and A24 Media.

The independent judging panel includes: Ikechukwu Amaechi, Editor, Daily Independent, Nigeria; Amadou Mahtar Ba, CEO of African Media Initiative; Jean-Paul Gérouard, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, France 3 TV; Ferial Haffajee, Editor-in-Chief, City Press, South Africa; Joel Kibazo, journalist and media consultant; Arlindo Lopes, General Manager: Regulatory and Corporate, Angola and Mozambique, MultiChoice Africa Ltd; Zipporah Musau, Managing Editor, Magazines, The Standard Group Ltd, Kenya and Kim Norgaard, CNN Bureau Chief, South Africa. CNN’s sports anchor Pedro Pinto will assist in the judging of the Portuguese General News Category.

The competition is open to African nationals who are professional journalists including freelancers across print, television, internet, photographic and radio. 

To make the entry process more accessible to journalists across Africa, a new initiative this year is the introduction of the Awards’ online entry form.  Journalists can access this via www.cnn.com/africanawards.  Once registered, journalists can provide all their details and upload their stories through this secure, password protected site.   The site provides details of the various file formats that can be uploaded.  Journalists unable to upload their work should still complete all their details online and at the end of the process simply print out their record of entry and include it with a hard copy of their submitted story; put it in an envelope and drop it off at their nearest collection point or mail directly to CNN in London. 

Traditional manual entry forms are also accepted. 

Please note journalists who have already sent their entries to collection points, or directly to CNN, should not use the online system this year. 

The closing date for entries is Wednesday 22 February. The judging will take place in April 2012.  All entries should be broadcast or published during January 2011 – December 2011 www.cnn.com/africanawards
Issued:   24 January 2012 
 

For further information please contact:
CNN International London:   Joel Brown + 44 20 7693 0967/ + 44 7967 293452joel.brown@turner.com
MultiChoice South Africa: Marietjie Groenewald + 27 11 / 289 3067 +27 79 501 1758  

Marietjie.Groenewald@multichoice.co.za
MultiChoice Africa: Caroline Creasy + 27 11 289 3081 / +27 82 333 4603 ccreasy@multichoice.co.za