STAFF REPORTER
Young Zimbabwe blogger, Angelinah Chiwonerwa was on Wednesday presented with the Youth Voice Award by the Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust (YETT), at a colorful event held at New Ambassador Hotel, Harare.
Young Zimbabwe blogger, Angelinah Chiwonerwa was on Wednesday presented with the Youth Voice Award by the Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust (YETT), at a colorful event held at New Ambassador Hotel, Harare.
Angelinah Chiwonerwa with the guest of honor , Abigail Gamanya (Director of Gender and Media Connect) |
The Youth Voice Award is a two year
old baby of YETT. The award was initiated in 2014 to encourage
journalists to recognize and reflect youths as positive drivers of
social change in their communities. This year, YETT made another
call for journalists to submit their broadcasted
clips, published and specific online links for monitoring. In a speech
given by the organisation's Programmes Officer, Samantha Moyo, she
disclosed that the organisation reached an average of 984 journalists from
Masvingo, Harare and Bulawayo. With the help of independent consultants, 98 journalists were shortlisted from 30 media houses based on their relevance to
Youth Voice Award .
The selection for the 2016 Youth Voice
Award was done under three main categories: Print Journalism (Comprising of
features/articles published in newspapers and online newspaper publications on
contemporary youth issues), Community Journalism (Publications on contemporary
youth issues in the community) and Online Journalism (online blogs on
contemporary youth issues). Angelinah Chiwonerwa scooped the award for Best
Female Online Journalist as she covered relevant issues pertaining to
young people in Zimbabwe.
During a question and answer session, the editor of the Suburban Newspaper, Itai Musengeyi suggested that YETT
should offer training workshops for journalists who cover youth issues so that
they can improve in their work. Currently, most reports on young people's voices in the politics of the country are inclined to political violence. In the
same vein of negative publicity, Samantha Moyo also explained how media houses
like H-Metro focus mostly on scandals. Journalists who cover youth issues are
called upon to take the bull by the horn and shout from the rooftops on the impact
made by young people in the nation and the world at large.
Abigail Gamanya, the Director of Gender and Connect, was the guest of honor at this inspirational event. She has over 16 years in media activism and strategic communications, standing as a role model to young female journalists.
Abigail Gamanya, the Director of Gender and Connect, was the guest of honor at this inspirational event. She has over 16 years in media activism and strategic communications, standing as a role model to young female journalists.