United States ambassador to Sierra Leone, Michael Owen has awarded three journalists whose essays were rated the best in a World Press Day writing competition organized by the embassy.
Ambassador Owen flanked by award winners: to his left is George Khoryama, his immediate right is Bai Bai Sesay, Poindexter Sama and Umaru Fofana the President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists
At a brief ceremony at the embassy yesterday, Ambassador Owen gave Le 1,000,000 cash prize to George Koryama of the Global Times newspaper, while Poindexter Sama of Awoko newspaper came second with Le 500,000 and Bai Bai Sesay of Independent Observer third with Le 250,000.
They wrote on “The importance of a free press in building a democratic society” and Ambassador Owen congratulated them saying their articles were of high standard. He lauded the freedom the press enjoyed in Sierra Leone compared to some countries he said he had worked in where journalists could be jailed for simply criticising the leaders. He encouraged journalists to keep fighting for their freedom quoting a former US president as saying that eternal vigilance was the prize to pay for freedom.
US embassy public affairs officer, Mark Carr said the competition, which was launched on 3 May, was aimed at highlighting press freedom issues and letting the journalists share their experience and knowledge about their profession.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Khoryama said they felt honoured for being the recipients of the awards. He said there had been marked improvement in media freedom in the country compared to the situations in the 1970s and 80s.
