18 November 2024
Award-winning journalist Sonja Smith says journalists need to dig deeper to stand a chance of winning an award.
This comes after Smith was crowned journalist of the year at the Editors Forum of Namibia 2024 Journalism Awards on Thursday.
“Investigative journalism is motivated by the age-old search for truth, which often has little reward.
Few are rewarded for their efforts and it requires uncovering facts that are not reported on in the official version of events.
“Those involved in investigative journalism have broken stories that have either shaped, made an impact, or provoked thoughts and debates,” she says.
Smith and Petrus Muronga won in the category of education, health and social development, with the story ‘Depo-Provera: The Drug That Divides Women’.
Smith was also awarded the best visual storytelling award with Freddie Clayton and Magaret Courtney-Clarke for the story ‘Not the Kind of Life a Human Being Should Live’.
“Don’t be too comfortable chasing after press releases and events for stories. Think carefully about the issues you want to report on. Why do they matter?” she says.
Smith says earth-shattering stories are not those that involve high-profile people or well-known entities, but rather stories that bring joy and involve ordinary Namibians.
“I am grateful for what the forum has done over the years to motivate us through acknowledgment,” she says.
MORE AWARDS
The politics and good governance award went to The Namibian investigative unit journalist Timo Shihepo with his story ‘Mulunga’s replacement linked to N$1 billion Namcor tender’.
Shihepo was also awarded in the category of agriculture, environment, forestry and fisheries with his story ‘Namibia and SA green hydrogen pipeline flagged’.
The mining and energy journalism award went to New Era’s Isai Shipunga, with the story ‘Bannerman resources’.
The Namibian journalists Esther Mbathera, Lazarus Amukeshe, Eliaser Ndeyanale and Andreas Thomas were awarded the business and finance journalism award with the story ‘The dark side of sport betting’.
The economic journalism award was awarded to New Era’s Maihape Ndjavera for the story ‘Banks not compelled to increase lending rate’.
The sport journalism award went to The Namibian’s Sheefeni Nikodemus for the story ‘Mboma, AN take on world athletics’.
Guest speaker Guy Berger encouraged journalists to focus on contributing information as a public service.
“Let’s focus on our primary task of contributing information as a public good, providing an oasis within the ever-expanding universe of AI-generated content and, in this, let’s be sure that we also add value at the levels of converting quality information arising from or about artificial intelligence,” he said.
GEINGOB’S FOOTSTEPS
Minister of information and communication technology Emma Theofelus said former president Hage Geingob was a supporter of the journalism profession.
“We celebrate the outstanding work of our journalists and reflect on the state of journalism in our nation in a year that has been particularly demanding for us all,” she said.
According to Theofelus, Geingob previously stood on that very stage to address the crowd.
“Little did we know then that it would be his final appearance at this cherished event. His excellency was a staunch advocate for press freedom, a true supporter of the journalism profession, and a leader who valued the vital role of the media in shaping public discourse and holding power to account.”
First National Bank Namibia announced a sponsorship of N$250 000 towards the organisation of this year’s awards.
Other sponsors included Ohlthaver & List Group, Old Mutual, Bank of Namibia, Cecil Nurse, Bosman, African Marketing, and Signarama.
RUNNERS-UPS
In the category of politics and governance, first runner-up was The Namibian investigative unit journalists Smith, Tileni Mongudhi and Shinovene Immanuel with a series of three stories, ‘Namcor board investigates Mulunga for N$100 million oil blocks payment’.
Second runner-up was Mbathera with the story ‘Company defends N$1.3 billion tender for five-year old’.
For the agriculture, environment, forestry and fisheries award, first runner-up was Mbathera with the story ‘Fishcor too broke to catch own fish’ and the second runner-up was Namibian Sun’s Kenya Kambowe with the story ‘Agri Equipment left to rot’.
In the education, health and social development category, first runners-up were Clayton, Smith and Courtney-Clarke with the story, ‘Not the Kind of Life a Human Being Should Live’, and the second runner-up was Desert Radio journalist Charlotte Nambadja with a documentary on Tobias Hainyeko.
The mining and energy journalism award first runner-up was Tracy Tafirenyika from The Namibian investigative unit with the story ‘We see trucks not jobs, Uis residents feel left behind in global energy rush’, and second runner-up was Shihepo and Immanuel with the story ‘Namibian oil discovery makes SA tycoon a billion richer’.
The business and finance category first runner-upwas The Namibian’s Shania Lazarus with the story ‘Trustco sells its ‘saviour’ and the second runner-up was The Villager’s Dwight Links with the story ‘ Namibia’s role in the Belt and Road Initiative’.
The sports journalism award first runner-up was Network TV’s Brian Munango with the story ‘Athletes World’ and second runner-up was Network TV’s Mariud Ngula with the story ‘Victors of MTB’s thrilling showdown’.
The business and finance journalism award first runner-up was Lazarus with the story ‘Swimming in cash loan debt’ and the second runner-up was Links with the story ‘Turkey wants closer ties with Namibia’.
