This year’s 2021 WAN-IFRA Women in News Editorial Leadership Award recognised women leaders from Malawi, Lebanon and Myanmar for inspiring excellence in their newsrooms.
The African winner was Nation on Sunday editor Edyth Kambalame, Myanmar-based editor-in-chief of the now-closed 7Day Digital Nyein Nyein Naing won the Southeast Asia category and Thomson Reuters Middle East editor Samia Nakhoul was been named the 2021 Laureate for the Arab Region.
The annual award recognises the exceptional contribution of an editor to her newsroom and her media organisation’s contribution to society.
In his congratulatory message following the announcement of the 2021 Laureates, WAN-IFRA CEO Vincent Peyrègne said leadership is more critical to journalism and the media now than ever.
“Our 2021 Women in News Editorial Leadership Award Laureates exemplify this excellence,” Peyrègne said.
Kambalame, Naing and Nakhoul have a wealth of experience spanning decades. A WAN-IFRA press release points out that Naing was one of few women to ever hold the title of editor-in-chief of a major title in Myanmar. Nakhoul started her journalism career in the 1980s covering the civil war in Lebanon.
Africa Laureate Kambalame has more than 15 years of experience, climbing up the ranks through the years and is now a gender advocate, media trainer and mentor. Kambalame’s win also follows after she attended the WIN Leadership Accelerator training project in partnership with fraycollege of Communications.
Women create balance
Kambalame told frayintermedia that women leadership in the newsroom are crucial because they help deliver balanced narratives that both represent women and empower them.
“We live in a world where women form at least half of the population, but they are under-represented in decision-making and largely negatively portrayed in the media. Having women in leadership helps to narrow this gap in representation and ensures a balanced representation of women and their views in the media,” she said.
Kambalame wears many hats that attest to her leadership. She is currently Vice-President of the Malawi Editors’ Forum, Vice-Chairperson of the Board of the Media Council of Malawi, and Interim President of the Association of Women in Media in Malawi.
Kambalame said the media plays a powerful role in shaping public opinion, including how society views women and their potential.
“Continuous negative portrayal of women perpetuates negative gender stereotypes against women that then feed into toxic behaviours such as gender-based violence,” she added.
All three 2021 Laureates will be formally recognised in Zaragoza, Spain, in September 2022 as part of World News Media Congress 2022 and will now form part of the WIN-sponsored panel at the WAN-IFRA World News Media Congress on November 29.
Learn more about the 2021 Laureates here.
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