Sunday Mail scribes win big at NJAMA
THREE Sunday Mail journalists walked away with seven accolades at the 2022-2023 National Journalism and Media Awards (NJAMA) held in Harare on Thursday night.
Tawanda Musarurwa, Veronica Gwaze and Theseus Shambare were among the 18 scribes under the Zimpapers stable who scooped awards from 28 categories.
The awards, organised by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), ran under the theme “Media Sustainability and Media Development”.
Musarurwa, who is The Sunday Mail’s online news editor, scooped the Business Journalist of the Year and the Finance Journalist of the Year awards.
Shambare was crowned Agriculture Journalist of the Year, and Mental Health in Children and Young
People Journalist of the Year.
He was also first runner-up in the Municipal and Service Delivery Journalist of the Year category.
Gwaze was runner-up in the Sports Journalist of the Year and News Journalist of the Year categories.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Dr Jenfan Muswere said journalists must pursue stories that contribute to national development.
“I encourage members of the Fourth Estate to prioritise reporting on stories that promote development,” he said.
“The media has a responsibility in terms of promoting macro-economic development and attracting foreign investment to stay in line with the President’s Vision 2030.”
He said Government was committed to engendering a conducive environment for journalists to operate freely.
He added: “Under the Second Republic, we repealed the AIPPA (Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act) and replaced it with the Freedom of Information Act; and we also came up with the Cyber and Data Protection Act that guarantees the safety and protection of data.
“We also have an open-door policy, which allows journalists to interact with the ministry.
“We are working on setting up a fund to develop manpower in the media industry so that we have accurate, factual and credible information (from the media).
“As a ministry, we need to make sure that journalists are well-paid so that we do away with the issue of brown envelopes.”
ZUJ president George Maponga said: “These awards are important for journalists, they are a motivation that makes them feel honoured for their work and help them to keep working hard.”
Other journalists from the Zimpapers stable who walked away with awards include Ivan Zhakata, Morris Mkwate, Peter Tanyanyiwa, Tichaona Chikono, Sharon Munjenjema, Nqobile Tshili, Walter Nyamukondiwa, Sukulwenkosi Debe-Matutu, Muchaneta Chimuka, Fortunate Muzarabani and Folake Makonese.
Presenting the adjudicators’ report, media consultant Vincent Kahiya commended Zimpapers editors for their mentorship, citing that the stable’s journalists produced most of the best packaged stories.