Winston Mano joins Wiki selection committee

The Wikimedia Foundation launched the Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards in 2023 to celebrate the contributions of journalists in Africa who prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion in their reporting. The awards recognize the essential role journalists play in creating well-researched articles that volunteer editors can use as source materials to develop content on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Their work helps to grow the knowledge base on one of the world’s most visited websites, so that it is more reflective of the topics, events and people that influence the understanding of culture and history through the ages.

Prof. Winston Mano, a full Professor and member of the University of Westminster’s top-rated Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI) was chosen as one of 8 selection committee members that helped the Wikimedia Foundation to identify the articles to be awarded out of a final shortlist of articles from across the African continent. The committee was made up of esteemed academics of African origin, members of civil society, media practitioners and members of the Wikimedia community. The articles were grouped into four categories: Arts, Culture, Heritage, and Sports; Digital and Human Rights; Health, Climate Change, and Environment; as well as Women and Youth.

Award recipients

• Journalist Carlos Mureithi from Kenya was announced as the first place award recipient for the article “How a ‘headstrong historian’ is rewriting Kenya’s colonial history”.

• Nigeria’s Osaruonamen Ibizugbe was recognized as the second place award recipient for her article “FGM: Survivors narrate experiences dealing with absence of the clitoris”.

There were also four articles receiving Special Mentions:

• Arts, Culture, Heritage, and Sports: Aanu Adeoye (Nigeria), “The Benin Bronzes and the road to restitution” (Financial Times)

• Digital and Human Rights: Philip Obaje Jr. (Nigeria), “The silencing of Sudan’s journalists – again“, (Al Jazeera Journalism Review)

• Health, Climate Change, and Environment: Jackson Ambole (Kenya), “How Mombasa’s yoghurt cups powered a reforestation drive“, (Al Jazeera)

• Women and Youth: Jacqueline Muchazoreka (Zimbabwe), “The story of how a Zimbabwean woman treated obstetric fistula despite criticism from her church & community” (BellaNaija)

Photo by Oberon Copeland @veryinformed.com on Unsplash