Promasidor sustains Quill Award despite gloomy economy

Promasidor, organiser of the annual Quill Awards for journalists, recently announced plans to host the 2016 edition of the award, continuing the sponsorship despite the gloomy economy outlook with many organisations cutting marketing spend and Corporate Social Responsibility budget.

The Managing Director of Promasidor, Mr Olivier Thiry said that despite the challenges and the negative economic outlook, the company decided to keep faith with organising the award because of the invaluable role of journalists in educating the public about issues of national interest, besides his company since commencing business in Nigeria years ago, has maintained an excellent relationship with the media.

He recalled that when the award was launched in 2012, it was to assess, recognize and reward excellent outstanding journalistic work based on merit.

The Promasidor boss pointed out in clear terms that the job of an average journalist is demanding particularly when the intellectual exertion and the skill that go into producing a good copy is put on the spotlight.    “In view of the consistent increase in the interest shown in the Quill Awards by journalists in Nigeria, Promasidor Nigeria has decided to refresh the categories by the addition of Best Online Reporter of the Year. We also merged the Best Report on Nutrition with Best Report on Children for a more robust category.”

In all, there are seven categories for the 2015-2016 Session, which are: Education Reporter of the Year, Best CSR & Industry Report of the Year, Best Report on Children and Nutrition, Future Writer of the Year, Best Photo Story of the Year, Brand Advocate of the Year and Best Online Reporter of the Year

Just like in the pass editions, all the winners will go home with Ipads, except the winner of the Best Photo Story of the Year who will be given a high-end camera.

Thiry said, “The judges will pick one of the Category winners as the overall winner. In addition to the prize won at the Category level, The Overall Winner will be sent on an all-expense paid four-week multimedia journalism training course with Thomson Foundation in London followed by a week’s work placement with a prominent British national news organisation.

“It is my pleasure to inform you today that the stage is now set for you to submit your application for any of those Categories listed above. In order to give equal access to all qualified journalists notwithstanding their locations in the country, we accept applications online. You may visit our link: https://quillawards.promasidor-ng.com to upload your entry.

“Only stories published between 1st May 2015 and 14th April 2016 are qualified for entry for the 2016 edition.

Also speaking on the award, Head, Legal/Public Relations, Promasidor, Mr Andrew Enahoro explained that the Online Category was introduced to encourage quality reporting by the online platforms.