=> KARACHI – Continuing its pursuit of acknowledging | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

=> KARACHI – Continuing its pursuit of acknowledging

KARACHI – Continuing its pursuit of acknowledging and honouring journalistic excellence in Pakistan and India, CNN International, the world’s leading 24-hour news channel, will host the fifth annual award ceremony of CNN Young Journalist Award (CNN YJA) on December 14.

The awards will be given away at a gala ceremony in New Delhi. CNN YJA is the first of its kind award to recognise quality journalism among young media professionals in Pakistan and India.

This year, the awards had five categories: the CNN Young Journalist Award for Print/Online and Television, CNN Journalist Award, CNN Photo Journalist Award , CNN Citizen Journalist Award and CNN Aspiring Journalist Award. The first three categories target young, professional/working journalists in Pakistan and India. CNN Citizen Journalist Award was instituted to encourage citizens of India [who are not professional journalists] to play an active role in the process of collecting and disseminating news and information on issues that have an impact on society.

Whereas CNN Aspiring Journalist Award offers a platform to students of journalism in India to exhibit their talent in the field of journalism. A novel feature this year has been the large number of entries from both Pakistan and India for the CNN Photo Journalist Award and the CNN Journalist Award – a special award included this year to celebrate 60 th year of Pakistan and India’s Independence.
As in previous years, CNN YJA, once again, received an overwhelming response from journalists in both countries.

The winners of CNN YJA 2007 would be announced in the presence of Phil Turner, CNN New Delhi bureau chief and Mallika Kapur, Reporter and Producer, CNN International amongst other dignitaries from media fraternity, jury members, and the likes.

All the entries had to go through a stringent selection process.

The entries for CNN YJA, CNN Journalist Award & CNN Photo Journalist Award categories have been evaluated by an eminent jury panel.

For the CNN Aspiring Journalist Award, the entrants were asked to submit an essay in 1,000 words on the topic: ‘Has the media broadened its reach only to narrow its focus’. Ten best finalists will be judged in an on-the-spot contest, a day prior to the awards’ evening. For the CNN Citizen Journalist Award, the executive jury chose the winner from the images/video files broadcast on CNN-IBN, between January 1, 2007 and September 30, 2007.

To be eligible for CNN YJA 2007, a journalist had to be in the age-group of 22 – 28 years either from Pakistan or India with a minimum of one year of relevant experience. Contestants in the television category were required to submit a 3:00 minute news/ feature style television package aired between 1 January and 30 September 2007.

Candidates in the Print/ Online category were asked to submit their best by-lined stories, published between 1 January and 30 September 2007.

The CNN Journalist Award was open to all Pakistani and Indian journalists irrespective of age, nominations were open to print/ online and television journalists covering the broader and deeper issues in Pakistani or Indian society, with a focus on factors of social development.

For CNN Photo Journalist Award, photojournalists irrespective of age were asked to send photograph or a series of photographs depicting a news/current affairs story or theme.
Source: The Nation
Date:12/13/2007