Women’s TV-Liberia Legislative Reporter Wins YMA Young Journalist Award
Monrovia -November 5,2023-WTVNEWS: Women’s TV-Liberia Legislative Reporter assigned at the Liberian Senate, Laymah Kollie during the weekend emerged as the First Runner Up of the Youth Media Action (YMA) 2022/2023 Young Journalist of the Year.
Laymah who took an assignment at the Liberian Senate in February 2023, made it to the 1st runner up of the Young Journalist Award with a solution driven story on Sustainable Development Goals #13 that speaks about Climate Action. The award winning story highlighted a local Agriculturist improving food security through the production of organic fertilizer by using seaweed and helping community dwellers with the creation of Urban gardens.
As First Runner Up amongst twenty three (23) top contestants, our reporter walked away with a Certificate of Achievement and a Digital Recorder.
Other winners include: Siaway Miapue, Winner, of Kool FM, and Emmanuel Kollie of ELBC, Second Runner Up.
Speaking at the ceremony on Friday 3rd October, Mr. Varmah Kamara, Executive Director of Youth Media Action stressed the need to build the capacity of young people in the profession through programs that motivates and inspire their career pathway.
“We want to appreciate our contestants for partaking in this first young journalist award competition, everyone is a winner. We see the need to build young journalists in the schools capacities into becoming professional media personalities” Varmah said.
Also, Madam Torwon Sulonteh Brown, Senior Journalism Trainer at Internews Liberia who served as Keynote Speaker for the occasion used her professional journey in the media landscape to encourage recipients to consider the award as a beginning and not the end.
“This Award should serve as your beginning to doing more work. Don’t feel reluctant, don’t relax, do more work and remain committed”
Meanwhile, the occasion was graced by media entities and professional bodies to include: Press Union of Liberia, Center for Media Studies and Peace Building amongst others.
Laymah Kollie is a Multimedia Journalist with over five -years of professional working experience. In 2021, Laymah won the Bong County Best Female Journalist of the Year Award from Her Work Her Passion. She’s a former worker at Super Bongese Radion in Gbarnga, Bong County, a Podcast Anchor at Unzipped Stories Africa in Nigeria, a Contributor at bird Story Agency in Kenya and Co-Founder of Passion for Youth Education Foundation.
The Awards program funded by Internews Liberia and organized by Youth Media Action seeks to motivate passionate young Journalists that demonstrating commitment, interest, hard work and dedication into the media profession.
Youth Media Action is a Liberian grassroots media development initiative which provides training and broadcasting experience to high school students in Liberia. YMA seeks to act as a force to professional Liberia’s media sector by providing young people with a firm practical grounding in journalism through training opportunities and media exposure.
