THE Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) has announced 72 nominees for the Excellence in Journalism Awards Tanzania (EJAT), with seven journalists from IPP media making it to the list.

The journalists Sanula Athanas, Abdallah Nassoro, Marco Maduhu, Halfan Chusi, and Christina Mwakangale  (Nipashe newspaper) and ITV’s Rodgers Simon and Benjamin Mzinga.

Speaking while announcing the nominees yesterday, Chairman of EJAT Organizing Committee Ernest Sungura said winners in 20 categories as well as the overall winner and Lifetime Achievement in Journalism (LAJA) recipient will be unveiled on September 28.

The guest of honour at the awards ceremony, which will be held for the 15th consecutive year, is expected to be Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Tulia Ackson.

Sungura noted that out of the 72 journalists nominated for the competition, 45 are men and 27 are women.

The nominees include 25 from print media, 14 from television, 13 from online media and 20 from radio.

For the first time, the number of journalism submissions for EJAT 2023 increased to 1,135, up from 893 in 2022, 606 in 2021 and 396 in 2020.

Sungura said journalists from Dar es Salaam led this time with 290 entries, followed by Arusha with 81, Mwanza with 74, Iringa with 72 and Mtwara with 49.

From Zanzibar, entries were submitted from North Pemba (36), South Pemba (43) and Urban West (29).

Sungura mentioned that one unique aspect of this year's awards ceremony will be hearing from the judges about the quality of journalism across print, radio, television and online media, with topics covering DP World's investment in Tanzania’s ports, stories about Ngorongoro and the Maasai, and the Hanang landslides.

On the day of the awards ceremony, Minister for Information, Communication, and Information Technology Jerry Silaa is scheduled to launch the Awards Magazines meant to promote excellence in various sectors in Tanzania and beyond.

"To start with, the magazines—one in Kiswahili and the other in English—will focus on the content of Tanzania journalism excellence awards," he said.

"One of the key sections in both magazines will be the life stories of all the nominees and the process of writing those stories. So, all nominees should be contacted by the magazine's writers. Other content will focus on the awards' sponsors and their contributions to changing people’s lives, including enhancing and building the media industry."

The panel of judges who reviewed the submitted works was led by Chairperson Halima Shariff and Secretary Dr Egbert Mkoko. Other judges are Mkumbwa Ally, Eshe Muhiddin, Jeniffer Sumi, Halima Msellemu and Absalom Kibanda.