Detained Photojournalist, TV One Honored

Thursday, 06 August 2009 16:32

Jonathan Rodgers of TV One accepted the “2009 Best Practices Award” for the station’s coverage of the 2008 presidential election. (Tameka R. Flowers/nabjconvention.org)

By Wesley Lowery

nabjconvention.org

For four months, he was fed once a day, given two liters of water each week and subjected to water boarding.

As he lay in a hospital bed thousands of miles away, Andrison Shadreck Manyere was honored by 200 of his peers. The National Association of Black Journalists’ President Barbara Ciara announced Manyere as the winner of the organization’s 2009 Percy Qoboza Award during the convention's opening ceremony Thursday.

Manyere was one of about 30 people who were abducted by Zimbabwe government sweeps last year.

In a Zimbabwe Times story, Alec Muchadehama, Manyere’s lawyer, said that while the photojournalist has no visible injuries, he is suffering from emotional trauma related to his captivity. “Just a few short months ago, (Manyere) was freed,” said Djibril Diallo, co-chairman of NABJ's World Affairs Task Force. “Now, with the formation of Zimbabwe’s coalition government, there is a new effort to review the cases of the imprisoned journalists.”Diallo and fellow World Affairs Task Force co-chairman John Yearwood will travel to Zimbabwe to deliver the award to Manyere.

Manyere is the second journalist from Zimbabwe to win the award. Geoffrey Nyarota, managing editor of The Zimbabwe Times, was honored with the award in both 1989 and 2003.

The Percy Qoboza Award was one of two awards presented during the two-hour ceremony in Ballroom B of the Tampa Convention Center.

In addition to honoring Manyere with that award, Ciara presented Jonathan Rodgers, president and CEO of TV One, with the “2009 Best Practices Award” for the station’s coverage of the 2008 presidential election.

Ciara noted that despite not having a news coverage department, TV One offered viewers with complete coverage of the Democratic National Convention, and again on election night.

“In an environment in which many would say no, we can’t," Ciara said. "TV One said 'Yes, we can.'"

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