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| SPOTLIGHT - Founder of the CNN Multichoice Africa Journalist Awards |
1/4/2007 |
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Here is a man who thought of putting African journalists on the global map by awarding them for exemplary performance. Mr Edward Boateng talked to Lillian Aluanga on his mission to appreciate the efforts made by African journalists to tell Africa''s stories
It is one of Africa''s most sought after journalism awards. The CNN Multichoice Africa Journalism of the Year Award was born out of one man''s desire to recognise the efforts and excellence of Africa''s writers who have a passion to tell the Continent''s story.
Boateng at a press conference.
This, even by the admission of the founder Mr Edward Boateng, was no easy task, given a host of challenges the journalists often faced.
In the 1990''s when the Award was launched, African journalists were going through a difficult time.
"The 1990''s were a turbulent period in the history of Africa," says Boateng, the founder of the Awards.
All through the 1990''s, a strong wind of change was blowing across the continent and with it came political, economic and social upheaval.
It was a period when the clamour for multi-partyism grew louder, but so did the resolve of dictatorial regimes to hang on to power.
While some of the strongmen won the battle and stayed put, others bulked, giving in to opposition voices calling for change.
Often, this came with a price for the journalists.
Dissenting voices, including politicians, members of the civil society and even journalists'', were detained, jailed and killed, but undeterred by the obvious perils accompanying their cause, the agents of change soldiered on. And so did the journalists.
In their quest to silence their critics, dictators grew more vicious in disciplining their detractors to serve as a lesson to anyone who dared question their authority.
Many critics including journalists were forced to flee their homes and seek asylum in foreign lands while others were detained, usually without trial. But then there were those who simply vanished, never to contact family and friends and whose whereabouts remain unknown to date.
Public coffers, major casualties of a wave of sleaze that appeared to have gripped the continent, were swept clean, even as fledgling economies struggled to incorporate new concepts such as Structural Adjustment Programmes.
Guns on the streets of Congo, Liberia, and Sierra Leone stubbornly refused to go silent as famine and disease ravaged various parts of the continent.
In Rwanda, a genocide unfurled in weeks of slaughter, pitting the majority Hutu against the Tutsi tribe. That was the world Boateng was staring at.
But in the midst of the turmoil, there were also success stories. The oppressive shackles of Apartheid that once bound former South Africa president, Nelson Mandela, were unbuckled.
Elsewhere on the continent, several countries registered some growth in democratic space, albeit by small margins.
These were exciting and challenging times for journalists.
That the coverage of injustice and corruption played a crucial role in change of governance for some countries cannot be gainsaid and is a pointer to the crucial role played by the journalist in any society.
Mr Edward Boateng (right) assists US actor Danny Glover (second left) and the late Ashanti King, Otumfuo Opoku-Ware present the African Journalist of the Year Award to Ms Joana Mantey at the maiden awards in Ghana in August 1995.
Boateng knew as much and wanted this courage appreciated.
"I wanted to do something to encourage African journalists to take the lead in telling our stories," says the former Africa head of the Turner Broadcasting Systems (TBS), based in Atlanta and later London.
TBS is a Time Warner Company based in Atlanta USA and a major producer of news and entertainment worldwide.
"My job took me to a lot of African countries where I met many African journalists. Their courage and resilience prompted me to do something to highlight their work on a wider platform," he says.
Although this one time Atlanta based employee of the Giant soft drink company Coca Cola, is now seeing the fruit of his effort, his initial attempt to sell the vision was fraught with challenges.
"The initial cynicism that met us in Africa was very difficult to contain. Some people just did not want us to succeed but there were those who believed in the vision and greatly encouraged us," he says.
"Within CNN, I did not have a problem, the challenge was to bring other African companies and institutions on board," he adds.
But Boateng''s idea was not only treated with scepticism by outsiders.
"Within my company at that time, there was some doubt as to whether the idea would work and how it would be perceived in Africa," says the soft spoken Boateng, who later on proved his critics wrong.
The company eventually bought the idea and even chose to make the project a Pan African affair to attract a larger audience.
If the number of entries in this year''s competition, co sponsored by CNN and Multichoice among other partners was anything to go by, then Boateng may just be on the right track.
This year saw more than 1,500 entries from over 40 countries participate for awards in various categories including general news, business, health, environment, photography, sports and the arts.
Now in its 11th year, the award continues to grow in stature and prestige, opening doors of opportunity both locally and internationally for its winners.
Boateng knows only too well the value of having good friends to keep one focused on their goals and is appreciative of having had such in his life.
Among those whom he credits for having helped him turn his dream into a reality were the Venerable spiritual and cultural leader of the Ashanti people, King Otumfuo Opoku Ware II, Mr Esom Alintah of Nigeria and World renowned Kenyan photojournalist Mohammed Amin.
Boateng holds fond memories of the three, now deceased, as pillars of strength who gave their time and advice as well as encouraged him to run with the vision.
He describes Amin, whose coverage of the Ethiopian famine in 1984 drew overwhelming global response, and resulted in millions of lives being saved, as ''a hardworking man who believed in winning''.
Amin, who was described by former president Daniel Moi as " a true son of Kenya", wrote the first rules of the competition and became the first chair of the judging panel when the awards were launched.
Boateng''s admiration for the photojournalist are reminiscent of a strong bond that was shared between two people with similar ideals.
"Mo Amin was a charismatic no-nonsense man who passionately believed in the African story," he says.
Closer home, Boateng also pays tribute to the lawyer turned diplomat who ascended to the throne of the famous Ashanti ''Golden Stool''.
As the 15th occupant of the stool King Otumfuo Opoku Ware II kept his doors open for Boateng offering him much needed counsel and support as he struggled to turn his dream into a reality.
"King Otumfuo Opoku Ware II was a very thoughtful person who endeared himself to many people," Boateng says of the Ashanti royal.
Born in Ghana into a family of four brothers and two sisters, Boateng went through primary and secondary schooling before joining the then Kwame Nkurumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, where he graduated with a BA in Economics and Law. He left Ghana for Sweden where he worked briefly with Statiska Centralbyran as a market analyst before leaving for his MBA studies at the Clark Atlanta University.
He then joined the giant soft drink company as a market analyst before moving on to the Turner Broadcasting System, then a parent company of CNN.
While in the US, Boateng also served at the office of Governor Harris, former governor of the state of Georgia and Oak Ridge Associated University in Tenesse
With the proliferation of CNN into the African market, TBS brands such as Cartoon Network and Turner Classic Movies became household names on Africa television, thanks to Boateng, who also holds a diploma in leadership management from Yale University. Married with two daughters aged six and nine, Boateng''s resolve to put Africa and African journalism on the global scene led to his involvement as part of the team that worked with the South African Broadcasting Corporation to launch the first all Africa based News channel- South Africa broadcasting Corporation. In later years it would be this same determination to tell the African story that would lead to the birth of the ''Inside Africa'' program'' currently aired on CNN.
Although Boateng, an avid jogger, acknowledges that the quality of journalism on the continent has improved, he says a lot more still remains to be done even as journalists struggle to stay focused on playing an important social function.
"We are still lagging behind with regards to tools of engagement and resources but I know a lot of credible journalists in Africa who are working hard to tell the African story despite these challenges," he says.
He notes a marked difference on the continent between the 1990''s and present times in the level of private ownership and plethora of media unlike before when there were few alternatives aside from state media.
"While private participation in the media has certainly improved over the years, lack of resources and proper training facilities still remains a major hurdle," he says.
A journalist (right) receives an award in the sports category.
Although Boateng speaks proudly of the annual awards, which he says have ''surpassed his expectations'', he is obviously not lost to the initial objectives and says the underpinning principles of founding the award still stand.
"I would like the event to get even better and see the journalists win awards go on to become role models for the next generation of journalists," Boateng says.
But while appreciating the logistical and sometimes political challenges faced by journalists on the continent, Boateng says the fundamentals of journalism remain the same the world over. He challenges the perception held by some quarters on the ''biased'' coverage of Africa by the western media, saying it is the responsibility of the African journalist to tell the African story.
"We need to define for the world what we perceive as our reality. We need credible and well resourced journalists to tell our stories the way we want them to be told," says Boateng who is also the co-founder of the Foundation for Africa Media Excellence, a non-profit media foundation, which has the largest database of both local and international journalists working in Africa.
Aside from being the managing director of the Global Media Alliance, an international communications company specialising in Public relations, TV production and corporate management, with offices in South Africa, Nigeria, London and the US, Boateng is also a senior advisor to TBS and sits on several boards in Africa.
His future plans?
"With regard to next year''s event, plans are already on course to ensure the event is even better than this year''s," Boateng says, adding that he looks forward to a continuous raising of the bar of standards of journalism on the African continent.
Source:
eaststandard.net
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