A journalist with PREMIUM TIMES newspaper, Oladeinde Olawoyin, has been shortlisted for the 2019 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award.
Mr Oladeinde was shortlisted alongside 11 other under-30 journalists from across the world in the award run in collaboration with the UK Foreign Press Association (FPA).
The shortlisted, hailing from Armenia, Ghana, Pakistan, Nigeria, South Africa, India and Sri Lanka, ”won over judges at the foundation with their stories about putting all people first”.
This year, the organisers said almost 200 entries poured in from 55 countries, including Kenya and Kyrgyzstan and from Nepal and Nicaragua to Moldova and Mexico. The award encourages journalists to mainstream marginalised voices and share ‘difficult truths’.
Apart from Mr Oladeinde, the shortlist includes two other Nigerians: Damilola Banjo and Amos Abba.
Others are Aamir Ali (India), Kushane Chobanyan (Armenia), Meiryum Ali (Pakistan), Sarita Santoshini (India), Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman (Ghana), Rubatheesan Sandranathan (Sri Lanka), Bukeka Silekwa (South Africa), Saurabh Sharma (India) and Julius Luwemba from Uganda.
Profile
Mr Oladeinde is a senior reporter on PREMIUM TIMES business desk.
He is a first-class graduate of Mass Communication from the University of Ilorin, finishing as the department’s best student. He was also editor of the university’s flagship student publication, UNILORIN WATCH, alongside other campus-based publications.
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In 2017, he was nominated in the journalism category of the Future Awards Africa held in Lagos.
In October 2018, he was named finalist in the West Africa Media Excellence Awards in Ghana and nominee in the Golden Pen Awards organised by Nigerian Breweries.
Last December, he was named “Global Goalkeeper” by the Gates Foundation at an elaborate event in South Africa in recognition of his reporting of the global goals. He was also a recipient of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting.
“Each of this year’s 12 shortlisted entrants will receive a certificate commending them on the high standard of their work, and will have the opportunity to participate in the Thomson Foundation e-learning platform, Journalism Now,” a statement announcing the shortlist said Friday.
“The final selection will be left to independent judges chosen by the FPA and will be revealed in October. The three most promising finalists will then be flown to London and the winner will be announced during a gala awards ceremony at the end of November.”
