MISA Malawi Chapter would like to inform all paid up and prospective members that the institution has introduced a new award category in partnership with Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust to promote health research reporting in the country.
The award category, called ‘Health Research Reporting Journalist of the Year Award,’ will be given out during the 2018 MISA Malawi Annual Media Awards.
This is the first time MISA Malawi has introduced an award on health research and believes that the award will promote and inspire journalists to write on health research.
Research is critical in promoting national development but there seems to be a gap between the health researchers and the eventual beneficiaries or those to utilize the findings. The Chapter has every reason to believe that the introduction of this award will not only inspire the media to report on health research but also motivate Malawians in general to develop an interest in the work of researchers in the health sector.
The Chapter is calling upon all paid up and prospective members to utilize this opportunity and demonstrate their ability to write accurate and informative articles on research in general and health research in particular. High quality articles will not only elevate reporters and media outlets but the country’s standing at global level.
The partnership with Liverpool Wellcome Trust is for three years with effect from the 2017/18 awards and the official launch will be on Wednesday, September 27, 2017. Judges for the awards will accept entries published or aired between 1st February, 2017 and 31st January, 2018. The deadline for receiving entries is February 28, 2018.
The judges will look for originality, impact, consistency, courage, investigation and analysis and gender awareness as explained below:
- Originality: The author should not rephrase, regurgitate, recycle or reuse material or information from an already published article.
- Impact: Ability to attract reactions from stakeholders such as the audience, members of the public and authorities. The reactions can either be positive or negative.
- Consistency: Flow of ideas within a story. Coverage of an issue throughout its life span
- Courage: Based on initiative, facts, credible sources and persistence in face of threats.
- Investigation and analysis: Going beneath the surface and depth of analysis and interpretation. This is a story that goes beyond the surface and does not merely parrot what a source said.
- Gender: Gender sensitive language and balance of male and female voices and how the story affects both sexes.
The Chapter believes that the media will welcome this development and promote research reporting in the country in the highest professional manner possible.
The Chapter would also like to thank the Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust for the confidence and trust the institution has in the Malawi media. We call upon other research organisations to support this initiative and demonstrate the same level of interest and confidence in the Malawi media.
