Young Journalist Awards: ree finalists making an impact

For some journalists, getting a story into the public domain is an achievement, but sometimes the impact of a story goes far beyond their expectations.

The three finalists in the Thomson Foundation Young Journalist from the Developing World FPA award can all claim to have helped to achieve political and social change in their countries.

Toyosi Ogunseye, Judy Kosgei and Neha Dixit, are all very different in their approach and preferred subject matter, but all three could be described as being motivated by raising social awareness.

The trio emerged as finalists in a competition with entrants from 40 different countries with Gross Domestic Product per capita of less than $20,000.

Toyosi Ogunseye exposed a health time bomb on an upmarket Lagos estate that was unknown to the residents. Her interviews revealed they were suffering from respiratory problems caused by waste from a nearby factory and she arranged for scientific tests to prove the presence of life-threatening levels of pollutants.

Outcry The story for Nigeria's Punch Newspaper provoked an outcry and the factory was shut down and the government agreed to pay for the medical bills.

Bringing the company to book wasn't even the most satisfying thing for me, she said. The most satisfying thing was the raising awareness of the people of the environment around them. The very fact that they had lived there for 15 or 20 years and they did not know they were dying.

Kenyan television journalist Judy Kosgei, discovered that up to two million young women in rural Kenya, were unable to access to sanitary towels and interviewed girls from remote villages to discover how this affected their lives.

Judy discovered that some women were having to miss school during their periods because they did not have adequate sanitary protection.

Some of her interviewees had never talked about their experiences before to friends and family, let alone a journalist. Touched by the women's candour, she started a campaign to improve their situation.

This resulted in a bill in parliament to make it possible for all girls to get sanitary protection for free. Private companies and Citizen TV viewers backed the campaign by donating sanitary products which were distributed to villages by high profile visitors, including Kenya's first lady.

They say as a journalist, you should not get attached to your story. But I did, she confessed. I broke the rules.

Indian journalist Neha Dixit agreed that it is often difficult to detach yourself from the story and its subjects.

One of Neha's entries describes the plight of a five-year-old rape survivor, whose family disintegrates as her case progresses through the courts.

With this five-year-old girl, she is almost like a daughter," she said. "I am very connected.

Affinity The very moment that we think of a story idea as a journalist, there is some bias. There is some sort of affinity with the issue when you pick it up.

Other times you do a story and you move on. But with this story, I don't think it's possible. Three years down the line, you are still thinking of them. It's only when there's a happy ending when you can sit back.

As women, also, someone has fought battles for us to stand here and talk about it so we need to keep the chain going.

Neha, who worked with the Headlines Today, Special Investigations Team in India until last year, says she went freelance because she felt the space in Indian media for stories that have a social impact is shrinking.

In terms of work, I've never been happier, she said. Being a freelancer I have more freedom to do this story.

The winner of the prize will be revealed the Foreign Press Association awards dinner this evening at a venue in central London.

LINK:	http://www.thomsonfoundation.org/news-and-features/2013/11/19/young-jo...
	See more stories from thompsonfoundation

Most recent headlines