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Award winning journalist Ahmed Sahid Nasralla (aka De Monk) has suggested to Peep! Magazine that the organisers of the annual national media awards should compile all winning articles in a book form and publish as a reference material especially for journalism students and practising journalists.
"This is the awards' fifth anniversary and it should not pass just like that. The IMC must mark it by doing something special.
They can put together all the winning articles and publish as a text book. This book will serve as reference for both practising and aspiring journalists in the country…, "said Nasralla.
In addition, Nasralla said the IMC should increase the scope of the awards to include more categories and give more journalists the opportunity to submit entries.
The IMC, he said, should also encourage more companies and institutions to sponsor some categories.
He said he was surprise there was no category for Feature Story in the last awards.
"I won Best Feature Story in 2006 and 2008. Strangely, in the last awards the category was dropped for Best News Story," he said.
Nasralla is also not comfortable with the pairing of Best Cartoon and Best Photo Journalism in one category.
"I have highlighted this from the beginning. Cartoon and photo are entirely different; there's no justification for squeezing them in one category. For every time a cartoon wins the category a good photo suffers, vice versa," said Nasralla, who incidentally has never won in the category he so cherishes.
Nasralla, who was among more than 10 journalists honoured at the 5th annual Independent Media Commission (IMC)-Zain National Media Awards held at the Bank Complex, Kingtom, Freetown, on Friday 26th February, 2010, was speaking exclusively to Peep! Magazine which published his recent winning article titled: 'THE COST OF DYING (Maternal Mortality in Sierra Leone)'.
The article won in the Best Development Story 2009 category.
"Every time I win an award I feel accomplished. It reassures me that I am a professional. The annual IMC award is now my performance barometer as a professional journalist on a yearly basis. I thank the organisers and the sponsors for the initiative and I hope it continues to grow," said Nasralla, who dedicated his award to all the women and children who have died during labour in Sierra Leone.
This is the fourth consecutive time Nasralla has won an IMC-Zain National Media Award.
In 2006 Nasralla won Best Feature Story for an article on former Sierra Leonean Head of State Rtd Captain Esegrabo Melvin Strasser titled: 'WHO WILL REDEEM THE REDEEMER?' In 2007 he won Best Sport Story for an article titled: 'MUSU PELE: A Woman of Substance'. In 2008 he won Best Feature Story again for an article on the works of faith based drug rehabilitation centre, City of Rest, titled: 'FIVE STAR HOTEL'.
Among dignitaries who presented awards on the night were the British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone- Ian Hughes and Sierra Leone's Minister of Information and Communication- Alhaji I.B. Kargbo.
The IMC National Media Awards scheme was introduced in 2005 to promote excellence in journalistic reporting in Sierra Leone. Since its inception Zain (formerly Celtel) has been the major sponsor of the event. However, this year the UNDP sponsored three special prizes on sexual and gender based violence reporting.
In addition, London based Sierra Leonean journalist Winston Ojukutu-Macauley sponsored a special category called Sam Metzger Award for Political Reporting.
The prize is named after one of the nation's oldest and exemplary journalist, Mr Sam Metzger.
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