Promasidor expands journalists’ Quill Awards

Promasidor, the leading manufacturer of sachet milk, maker of Cowbell and Loya milk, has expanded its Quill Awards for Nigerian journalists as it has kick-started the second edition of the awards.

It added two new categories – Best Report on Children and Future Writer of the Year – to the existing five categories. Best report on children will focus on children issues while the future writer of the year entries are expected from potential journalists, especially undergraduates.

It would be recalled that the first edition of the event last year had five categories, comprising the Brand Advocate of the Year, Best Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report of the Year, Most Educative Report of the Year, Best Report on Nutrition, and the Best Photo Story of the Year.

While disclosing the increase in the number of categories at a press conference in Lagos, Keith Richards, CEO of Promasidor, said the Best Future Reporter of the Year category have been thoughtfully picked to encourage young writers that will eventually take up the mantle of journalism in future.

“As earlier promised, we have taken time to listen to the recommendations from the panel of judges, feedback from journalists and considered the growing media trend to improve the entry categories for this year,” he said.

Richards noted that entries for this year’s Promasidor Quill Awards for journalists designed to promote and reward excellent writing skills, will begin from September 9, 2013, through to April 30, 2014, adding that qualifying entries are publications from April 1, 2013, through to April 30, 2014.

“Since we sold the first sachet of milk and grew our product brands across our dairy, beverage and food enhancement categories we have enjoyed and benefited from the support of the media and committed journalists who have noticed our commitment and hard work. This year, Promasidor celebrates its 20th anniversary and our success over the years has been driven by the dedication of the media to promote our quality consumer brands.

“Since the 18th March, 2012, when this award was launched, we have joined the media world to celebrate five remarkable journalists who flagged off the maiden edition at the grand awards dinner at the Eko Hotel & Towers on 27th April, earlier this year,” he said.

Promasidor launched the Quill Awards last year at its Media Brand Academy as a platform in Nigeria to reward journalists for dedicated news reportage in key areas such as industry, education, CSR, and nutrition issues all year round. We are committed to continue to grow the awards as a professional platform of assessment, recognition and reward for outstanding journalistic work.

“These awards seek to remind journalists of the importance of their role in society and to society, the need to encourage professionalism and appreciate outstanding work.

“Every journey starts with the first step and we have taken this step to reward excellent news reportage that informs, educate and responsibly shape public perception on topical issues and industry activities.

“The participation for the awards was impressive for the maiden edition, but we would love to encourage more participation from journalists across the nation this year. We were able to get our winners from a variety of entries in five different categories,” he said.

Richards explained that The award winners received tools for the trade and also are scheduled to begin a six-week certificate-awarding course at the School of Media and Communications at the Pan African University, Lagos, that will further equip them with new knowledge to do more.