GRAHAMSTOWN -- The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation and Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation scooped top honours at the prestigious inaugural  SPI-MAP HIV and AIDS and Gender Media Awards at a colourful ceremony held in Grahamstown, South Africa, on 9 September.

Malawi Broadcasting Corporation won the SPI-MAP HIV and AIDS Institutional Leadership Media Award while the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation won the SPI-MAP Gender Institutional Media Award. The Times of Zambia was runner-up in the HIV and AIDS category while the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation came second in the Gender category. 

The chairperson of the adjudication committee and Director of the Sol Plaatje Institute of Media Leadership, Francis Mdlongwa said: “The judges were particularly impressed by the quality of gender and HIV and AIDS policies submitted by the six media houses, as well as their efforts to incorporate gender activities into their plans of action”.

The Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation was commended for showing “extraordinary leadership in ensuring equitable and fair treatment of men and women in and through the media [through] its exceptionally well-implemented Gender policy, as well as a gender aware HIV and AIDS policy.”

The Malawi Broadcasting Corporation was singled out for its HIV and AIDS policy and for doing “remarkably well” in serving its staff and audiences “with a meagre budget and irregular support from donors”. The judges also commended the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation was for integrating HIV and AIDS into its editorial and programme producers’ manuals and producing programmes that are providing a channel to challenge deeply-held stereotypes and allow for robust debate on HIV and AIDS for millions of people in Malawi.

In their citations, the judges also commended The Times of Zambia, runners-up in the HIV and AIDS category, for “demonstrating progressive leadership on HIV and AIDS at the workplace”. The judges also singled out the newspaper’s “HIV and AIDS sensitisation programme”, which has resulted in “a significant reduction in health-related long illnesses among staff”.

The winners and runners-up received prize money and floating trophies. The winners’ prize also includes one-week training on HIV and AIDS and gender from a reputable training institution in Southern Africa.

The awards are part of the Media Action Plan (MAP) on HIV and AIDS and Gender led by the Southern African Editors’ Forum (SAEF) that aims to ensure that 80% of the 360 media houses in the region have HIV and AIDS and Gender Policies by the end of 2008. Gender Links and and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) lead the policy arm of MAP. The SPI, that adjudicated the awards, is committed to progressive leadership and institutional practice in the media of Southern Africa.

The SPI-MAP HIV and AIDS and Gender media awards seek to honour media houses in Southern Africa that have put in place and implemented policies to improve workplace practices on HIV AIDS and Gender, as well as the quality and quantity of news coverage on these issues.

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Last updated »  2007-09-12