2012 Citi Journalistic Excellence Award winners announced

The winners will attend a fully paid 10-day international seminar at the prestigious Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. David Mugwe of the Nation Media Group and James Anyanzwa of the Standard Group took third and fourth positions.

The seminar will also be attended by the award-winners from over 20 countries, as well as academics, media experts, policymakers and government officials. Visits are scheduled to the International Monetary Fund, the New York Stock Exchange, CNN Financial News, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg Business News.

International Journalists Seminar

According to Citibank chief executive officer, Dan Connelly, "this training will play a significant role in shaping countries' perceptions of the international business environment". "Meeting with the eminent and thought-provoking speakers on the agenda should enhance their ability to interpret the global economy for their readers and viewers".

The International Journalists Seminar is a special program sponsored by Citi and administered by Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism. The program, now in its 29th year, has served to improve the quality of business journalism in the developing world by exposing leading local journalists to the issues and people that drive the global economy. The seminar takes place from 4-13 June 2012.

In 2011, 21 journalists from Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Hong Kong, Korea, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Nigeria, Peru, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, and Spain were chosen on a competitive basis for a 10-day seminar that includes meetings with leaders of the business community, government, media and academia. In previous years, former NY Federal Reserve president, William McDonough; former NY Fed president, Timothy Geithner and ambassador Felix Rohatyn have spoken to the group, as have Columbia professors R. Glenn Hubbard, Jagdish Bhagwati, Joseph Stiglitz and Jeffrey Sachs.

What the judges had to say...

A three judge panel managed to review more than 15 business feature entries for the award. Carole Kimutai, managing editor of Management magazine and contributor to Bizcommunity, said that she was impressed by mostly the print submissions that were largely informative and insightful.

Articles ranged from stories on how Kenyan farmers were reaping the fruits of regional integration, to how low rental incomes remove the attractiveness from residential property, said David Makali a director of Kenya Media Institute.

Mohammed Adow, the director of News and Programs at Al Jazeera said that in evaluating the submissions, the judges adopted such criteria as originality of the subject, style of writing, introduction of new ideas, analysis of the subject, use of research and interviews, understanding of the subject and impact of the article.