CBA 2011 Award winners "epitome of all that is good about Public Service Broadcasting"
The Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA) has announced the winners of its Annual Awards. Broadcasters globally are facing the challenges of digitisation, but engaging and high quality programme content is acknowledged as the key driver for digital transition. Excellence in media production across the Commonwealth is celebrated in the winning entries, which come from South Africa, Australia, UK, Ghana, Mozambique and Kenya.
The judges felt that two entries for the CBA-IBC Award for Innovative Engineering deserved recognition, so they awarded SABC and Televisao Independente de Mocambique as joint winners.
The CBA judging panels reported that the quality of content produced by entrants was high, although the World Bank Award for a programme covering Development Success is not to be awarded as no entrants sufficiently fulfilled the application criteria.
To ensure that award recipients receive maximum recognition in their home territories, awards this year will be presented at CBA events regionally.
The CBA is committed to supporting Public Service Media content and would like to thank all CBA Award sponsors for making this celebration of excellence possible. Thanks also to the many judges who took time out of their busy schedules to select these winners.
Judges: Olly Barratt, Feature Story News; Marion Bowman, One World Media; Cheryl Campbell, Television for the Environment; Francis Dobbs, World Bank; Neil Dormand, CBA; Alan Downie, CBA; Huw Edwards, BBC; Hayley Haas, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative; John Ive, International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers; Mark Jacobs, BBC; Karen Merkel, CBA; Akim Mogaji, CBA; Gugulethu Moyo, Media Legal Defence Initiative; Marcia Poole, Amnesty International; Benn Meno Pufong, Cameroon Radio Television; Tim Rogers, Thomson Foundation; Elizabeth Smith, Transforming Broadcasting; Simon Spanswick, Association for International Broadcasting; Robin White, ex-BBC WS Africa.
Amnesty International Award for Human Rights Programme Winner: Assignment - Guinea on the Brink, BBC World Service (UK)
The judges said: "This is a very powerful programme, radio documentary at its best. Guinea on the Brink makes an important contribution to the fight for human rights because it brings this issue to the attention of the millions around the world who listen to the BBC World Service."
CBA-IBC Award for Innovative Engineering Winners: EPG Innovation Project, SABC (South Africa) & MCR Project, Televisao Independente de Mocambique (Mozambique)
The judges said: "Both these entries showed initiative and judges felt that they were equally important to their respective stations, despite the very different sizes and strengths of the two organisations. The SABC project involve writing software that enabled data contained in their radio information systems to be automatically extracted and used to generate programme information on their website and mobile service. This made excellent use of well documented tools. TIM engineers rebuilt their MCR by making pragmatic use of available resources. Both projects demonstrated end user benefits, either from enhanced services or improved quality and reliability."
One World Media Award for Best Programme produced in a Developing Country Winner: Maternal Mortality, Radio Kisima FM (Kenya)
The judges said: "This was a highly creative, innovative programme, with excellent use of available resources. Maternal Mortality is engaging, informative listening; this is 3D radio!"
Thomson Foundation Journalist of the Year Award Winner: Samuel Agyemang, Reporter/Anchor, Metro TV (Ghana)
The judges said: "We were hugely impressed by Samuel's determination to get to the heart of the story – in difficult and challenging circumstances. His reporting had evident impact, brought clear results, and showed courage and a social conscience. We want to commend him on his investigative skill and encourage him to persevere in setting the highest standards of journalism."
UNESCO Award for Science Reporting & Programming Winner: Honeybee Blues, SBS (Australia)
The judges said: "Honeybee Blues is the epitome of all that is good about Public Service Broadcasting, it entertained, informed and educated. The Bee's story was a story in and of itself and also was used as a vehicle to explore wider environmental issues."
For more information, please contact:
(Adam Weatherhead, Project Manager, CBA)
