Introducing 13 Sierra Leoneans Shortlisted for The 2023 Vickie Remoe Prize For Journalism and New Media

Today we are announcing the shortlisted candidates for the 2023 Vickie Remoe Prize.

The Vickie Remoe Prize highlights emerging journalists and new media content creators for excellence, originality, and creativity. Winners will be selected and announced in April by a panel of judges who are Sierra Leonean professionals in news media and talent development. 

The following awards will be made in Journalism and New Media. The four categories include news writing, photojournalism, videography/film, and content creation. In each category, the number of prizes will be split between male (s) and female (s) applicants. If no man or woman submits a finalist application in one or more categories, the prize will roll over to the next year. The maximum prize amount to be awarded for 2022-2023 is nLe. 200,000.

A total of 13 individuals across four different categories have been shortlisted for their skills in news writing, photography, videography, and content creation.

The full list of categories and shortlisted applicants are:

The Vickie Remoe Prize for News Writing

Awarded to a Sierra Leonean print journalist for an outstanding example of local or national news reporting, investigative reporting, explanatory reporting, or feature reporting that demonstrates originality, lucid writing, clear presentation, and community connection. Award for NSL 10,000.  Prizes Available (4)

• Ahmed Tejan Cole
• Marian Amaria Bangura
• Morlai Ibrahim Dainkeh Kamara
• Ishmail Saidu Kanu

The Vickie Remoe Prize for Photojournalism 

Awarded to a Sierra Leonean photographer for a distinguished example of breaking news, documentary, and feature photography which may consist of a set of photographs not to exceed 8 images. The submitted pictures may depict one or multiple subjects. Do not change or manipulate the photos. Manipulation of images includes but is not limited to altering the colors (hue, saturation, tone), smoothness, or adding sharpness. Do not do anything to the images that will distort the original image. You may crop, add light, reduce light, and make minimal edits. Award for NSL 20,000. Prizes Available (2). 

• Benjamin Thoronka
• Hassan Bangura

The Vickie Remoe Prize for Videography/Film 

Awarded to Sierra Leonean videographers for an outstanding example of a short film (fiction) or documentary videography. The submitted video may be 45 mins or less. Award for NSL 30,000. (2) Prizes available.

• Ishmael Roland Kamara

The Vickie Remoe Prize for Content Creation 

Awarded to a Sierra Leonean content creator or creative entrepreneur for an outstanding example of digital media including podcasts, vlogs, blogs, and reels or short videos. Award for NSL 20,000. Prizes Available (2). For the content creator’s prize, we are looking for creativity, authenticity, consistency, and impact.

• Hannah Ogunade (Waterloo Titi)
• Ibrahim Kamara (This is Nabie)
• Issadin Kamara (Issadin K)
• Ramatu Tunkara (Joy)
• Musa Kallon (Legendary Zette)
• Ishmael Roland Kamara (Roland Kay Media Corporation)