PREMIUM TIMES journalist, 11 others shortlisted for Thomson Foundation Award

Kemi Busari, a journalist with PREMIUM TIMES Nigeria, has made a shortlist of 12 to contest for the Thomson Foundation’s 2018 Young Journalist Award.

The foundation (FPA) made the announcement on Friday.

The award, in its sixth year, enables journalists aged 30 and under, from countries with a Gross National Income (GNI) per capita of less than $20,000 (data from the World Bank), to send in their best stories.

Independent judges at the FPA will select the three finalists from the 12 entrants on the shortlist – to be revealed in October.

The selected three will vie for the coveted Young Journalist Award on 26th November at the FPA Awards gala dinner in London.

In announcing, the foundation stated that “a remarkable number of entries arrived from all over the world for this year’s competition – Burundi to Bulgaria, Ethiopia to Ecuador and the Philippines to Palestine. Each entrant needed to submit a portfolio of three published pieces of work produced in the 12 months preceding the deadline for submissions which was August 17th, 2018.

“Thomson Foundation judges pored over the entries and selected the shortlist based on criteria including originality, endeavour, interest to audiences, and the anticipated or actual impact of the story after publication or broadcast.

“As with previous years, some of the entrants were further into their respective careers than others, yet they all shared the viewpoint that it’s a journalist’s job to mainstream marginalised voices and nurture journalism’s public interest role in democracy.

“Among the shortlist of 12 were young and aspiring journalists speaking up on a variety of matters – corruption or abuses of power among the political elite, social injustices but also social cohesion and bringing people together.”

The shortlist of 12 includes journalists from Africa, Europe and Asia.

The shortlist:

Kemi Busari, Nigeria

Rubatheesan Sandranathan, Sri Lanka

Yen Duong Do Bao, Vietnam

Dimuthu Attanayake, Sri Lanka

Sabrina Toppa, Pakistan

Valeriya Egoshyna, Ukraine

Alisa Kustikova, Russia

Asmaa Shalaby, Egypt

Sheikh Saaliq, India

Alice Aryeetey, Ghana