Uganda National Journalism Awards: Key statistics and trends

African Centre for Media Excellence this year received the highest number of stories submitted for the annual Uganda National Journalism Awards.The awards, now in their fourth year, also registered the highest number of participating journalists compared to previous years.

While more male journalists submitting stories for the Awards compared to their female counterparts, the percentage of female journalists picked up slightly from 18% in 2016 to 21% this year.
It’s also worth noting that while the number of female journalists have remained low compared to males, when it comes to actual winners, the gap between male and female journalists tend to reduce.

Over the years, journalists have submitted more stories to the Features, Health and Education categories, while Editorial Cartooning, Data Journalism and Multimedia reporting have recorded the least number of entries.

In 2017, journalists submitted the highest number of entries to Feature Writing, Health Reporting and Education Reporting categories. On the other hand, Editorial Cartooning, Data Journalism and Multimedia reporting received the least number of submissions this year.

Entries per categories, 2017

The number of print media submissions for the awards has been higher since 2014 compared to TV, Radio and online media. However, TV and Online media this year registered an increase in submissions and the highest since the awards were launched.

Entries by media type, 2017

Media houses with highest number of journalists who submitted entries, 2017

Print: New Vision had the highest number of journalists submitting for the awards (38), followed by Daily Monitor (36)
Radio: Radio Pacis journalists led in the radio category (8), followed by KFM, Mama FM and Wizarts, Power FM (all with 4).
Television: NTV Uganda had the most number of journalists submitting for the awards (12), followed by NBS TV (8)
Online: Chimp Reports journalists led in the online platform (7), followed by Campus Times and Weinformers (both at 4)

A total of 16 judges met for a residential retreat in Entebbe from 24th-26th February, 2017 to assess the entries. The awards shortlist will be released in the coming week and the process crowned by an awards gala in April.