NTV reporter Rose Wangui wins prestigious global award

NTV features reporter Rose Wangui has won the prestigious Knight International Journalism Award for 2019.

The award honours journalists who, despite difficult circumstances, produce pioneering news reports or innovations that make an impact on the lives of their countries or regions.

The International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) in Washington, DC made the announcement on Tuesday night.

It said following its wealth of experience working in the region, it appreciated “the grit that Ms Wangui has shown by reporting with a strong sense of purpose to tackle the sort of unique and taboo stories that usually get buried in headlines.”

“She has been selected because her stories have led to major improvements in the conditions she brings to light. She will be presented her award at ICFJ’s 35th Annual Awards Dinner on November 7, 2019, in Washington, DC,” ICFJ communication manager Zainab Imam, said.

AWARDS DINNER

A tweet from ICFJ said: “@RoseWangui of #Kenya has tackled topics such as sexual bondage of young girls and Kenyan women who went to work in the Persian Gulf and wound up dead. Her stories have led to major improvements in the conditions she brings to light.”

ICFJ also announced the lineup for its 35th Anniversary Awards Dinner on November 7 in Washington, DC.

“The honourees include three courageous journalists: CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer, Stevan Dojčinović of Serbia, and Rose Wangui of Kenya. Washington Post Executive Editor Martin “Marty” Baron will receive ICFJ’s Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism.

The ICFJ Awards Dinner attracts nearly 600 media luminaries and supporters and recognizes journalists whose work has made an outstanding impact on society.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer will serve as master of ceremonies during the November event.

Ms Wangui, an award winning journalist has bagged a number of international awards and received accolades from her colleagues at Nation Media Group following her new feat.

BACKGROUND

Palmer, CBS News’ senior foreign correspondent based in London, will receive the Excellence in International Reporting Award. One of the first US correspondents to helicopter into Afghanistan after 9/11, Palmer has also covered the conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Previously based in Moscow, she has reported on and in Iran consistently over the past decade. She is one of the few foreign journalists to have visited Iran’s nuclear installations.

Dojčinović and Wangui, two trailblazing journalists, will receive the Knight International Journalism Award, which is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Dojčinović is a founder and editor in chief of the Crime and Corruption Reporting Network (KRIK) in Belgrade, Serbia. At an increasingly dangerous time, he leads a team of courageous journalists who have turned a light on money laundering by business elites and other abuses by government officials.

He is also a regional editor for the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), an ICFJ partner. As a result of his probes, Dojčinović has been a frequent target of threats and vicious personal attacks by government allies. None of it deters him.

Wangui is a features reporter with NTV, the television arm of the Nation Media Group in Kenya. She uncovers stories about tough or taboo subjects that no one else dares to touch.

With compassion and a strong sense of purpose, she has tackled topics such as sexual bondage of young girls in remote villages, of young Kenyan women who went to work in the Persian Gulf and wound up dead, and of squalid school conditions where children don’t have a desk, a pencil or a chair. Her stories have led to major improvements in the conditions she brings to light.

Baron, who has held top positions at five of the nation’s most influential newspapers, will be honoured for a lifetime commitment to the highest professional standards. Newsrooms under his leadership have won 16 Pulitzer Prizes, including the 2003 public service award at the Boston Globe.

As editor-in-chief, Baron oversaw the Globe’s groundbreaking investigation that revealed the Catholic Church’s pattern of concealing sex abuse by priests. That investigation later became the subject of an Academy Award-winning movie, “Spotlight.”