Manasseh Azure Awuni Scoops GJA�s Best Journalist Of The Year Award

Freelance Journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, was on Saturday night, adjudged the 2011 Journalist of the Year at the 17th Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Awards held at the Banquet Hall, State House. Azure Awuni, who stood tall among his peers, swept three awards on the night - Best Report in Feature Writing (Print), Best Report In Sanitation and Best Report on TV News to crown the year under review as the best in the inky fraternity. A graduate of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, an emotional Manasseh, who recently completed the University of Ghana School of Communication studies, was appreciative of the efforts of his father in seeing to it that he was given the best of education. �People used to ask me, �Manasseh, what�s your secret?��the secret is God; this is all the handiwork of God�I want to say thank you to my father (for the gift of education) who is unable to be here; I know he is watching on T.V�I used to be ashamed of my father when I was a kid�my father was a night watchman (and I didn�t want people to know I was related to him), but he did all he could to give me education�I want to tell all parents that poverty is no excuse (to shirk your responsibilities) not to give your children the best of education�,� he said after he received his award. A little over thirty awards were handed to journalists (both the electronic and print) and to media houses who excelled during the year under review. The Ghana Broadcasting Corporation had six of its journalist taking home various awards. Runners-up in some categories were also congratulated for their work. Themed "Giving Credence To Elections And Democratic Stability: The Role Of The Journalist", the 17th GJA Awards was chaired by Professor Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Director, Legon Center for International Affairs and Diplomacy, University of Ghana. The Guest Speaker for the night, His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, President Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican, who described journalists as prophets, urged them to unite the country with their reportage and not divide with bias reporting that would open ethnic cracks.