The Sunday News
SUNDAY News senior business reporter Dumisani Nsingo on Friday night scooped the Environmental Reporter of the Year 2013 award at the National Journalism and Media Awards (Njama) ceremony held in Harare.
This year’s Njama was held under the theme: “Women make news”, and was officiated by the Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Cde Oppah Muchinguri.
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) said Nsingo’s category received the most entries and was the most challenging one as journalists in the country have over the years developed a keen interest in reporting on environmental issues.
However, Nsingo’s masterpiece, titled: “Charcoal dealers threaten indigenous trees in Hwange”, came tops as it exhibited his sheer determination and ingenuity in investigative journalism as well as exposing the ineptness or delay by authorities to curb rampant de-forestation of indigenous trees in Hwange District.
The newly-crowned Environmental Reporter of the year urged fellow journalists to thrive on originality when writing their articles while ensuring that their stories would lead to positive development in society.
“I am very excited about winning this award as I have been eyeing it for some time now. Of course I have a number of awards in agricultural reporting but I will hold this one in high esteem.
“I am, however, urging fellow journalists to have originality in their works because there is a growing trend of sophisticated plagiarism in the profession and one should strive on news gathering rather than to rely on penalties — these being your murder stories and court cases and events which can be done by any random reporter in the newsroom,” said Nsingo.
He further dedicated the award to the late former Sunday News editor, Paul Mambo, the current editor Tumeliso Makhurane, business editor Gabriel Masvora and the entire Sunday News family.
He has previously won the Njama Agriculture Reporter of the Year twice, the Zimbabwe Newspapers Group Agriculture reporter of the year twice and in 2011 he was first runner-up Njama Agriculture reporter of the year.
For his feat this year, Nsingo received a certificate, monetary reward from the sponsor of his category, Nyaradzo Funeral Assurance, a food hamper from Nestle and a five kilogramme bag of maize seed from SeedCo.
Also among the winners was Gibson Mhaka, a reporter from Sunday News’s sister publication B-Metro, who scooped the features and documentary reporter of the year.
Speaking at the function, Cde Muchinguri expressed dismay at the way the media covered the case of jailed RMG End Time Message Church leader Robert Martin Gumbura, citing that the beleaguered man of the cloth was somehow being glorified for his actions of sexually abusing women.
The Minister pleaded with all media houses to develop a sense of patriotism and desist from publishing negative stories in the wake of sanctions imposed by the West and her allies.
“I have been made aware of the challenges which you are facing but I promise to take the lead in addressing one of them which is housing.
“I have since finished globe-trotting and as such I will arrange a meeting between ZUJ, your minister (Professor Jonathan Moyo) and the Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister, Dr Ignatius Chombo to seek ways to address this problem,” said Cde Muchinguri.
