Supporting media in Africa


l-r: Head of Corporate Communications, MultiChoice Nigeria, Mr Segun Fayose; Executive Director, Publications, The Punch, Mr Azu Ishiekwene; Executive Editor, TELL Magazine, Mr Ayo Akinkuotu; Senior International Producer, Cable News Network, Mr Thomas Evans at the just concluded CNN/MultiChoice African Journalist Awards media workshop in Lagos.


Sharon found an article about a workshop held last month in Lagos, Nigeria to encourage local journalists, which CNN International co-sponsored. Representing CNN at the event was none other than Senior International Producer Thomas Evans:

CNN’s Thomas Evans tackled the subject, “What makes an award-winning story? A producer’s perspective”. He described an award-winning story as a product of two factors, content and execution. According to Evans, award-winning stories are stories that really help to stimulate people’s attitude towards an issue, as most stories hover around change.

As an international reporter who has garnered experience covering the Afghanistan, Russian, Israel-Hezbollah wars, 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the United States’ presidential campaigns, he suggested that the best way to report international news is to report stories as the journalist sees it, from his or her own point-of-view. He urged participants to always be alert as practicing journalists because award-winning stories are usually once-in-a-lifetime news material, which the journalist carefully puts together and delivers in a high standard, world-class manner.



Read the full article at Vanguard News Online.