Melody Chikono: Meet AWiM 22 Pitch Zone Winner

Melody Chikono is one of the three winners of the AWiM2022 Agenda 2063 Pitch Zone Awards.

Melody was among the winners announced during the closing ceremony of the sixth African Women in Media Conference (AWiM), which took place in Fez, Morocco on 9th December.
Each year, during the annual African Women in Media Conference, female journalists drawn from the continent are allowed to pitch stories in the five categories to organisations that have partnered with AWIM to create a platform for female journalists and other media practitioners to engage and discuss key issues of the day.
The AWIM Pitch Zone is unique in that it provides journalists with a setting where they can showcase their creativity and ultimately be awarded the funding that will support their ambitions to see their stories come to life and give a voice to the communities represented in their final work.

Melody won in the category of Agenda 2063 Aspiration 6, African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Children.

Short bio of the award winner

Melody is an enthusiastic business media practitioner whose experience spans over 10 years. Her strong area of focus is financial and markets analysis and has worked for various news outlets. She has won several awards including The Best Technical Insurance Writer and the Best Microfinance Writer. She has edited the Alpha Media Holdings’ flagship magazines, the Quoted Companies and the Banks and Banking Survey magazine since 2019. Melody is a versatile individual who in the past years has ventured into investigative journalism uncovering corruption, maladministration, illicit financial flows and governance issues.  She also has a passion for women’s development issues in all aspects.  She has participated in and won several grants covering these issues.  Melody is the current chairperson of the Women in News (WIN) Zimbabwe chapter and the Welfare and Training Officer of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists. She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Media and Society Studies, a BA Media Studies Degree, a Diploma in Public Relations as well a Chartered Institute of Secretaries and Administrators (CIS) Part B.

AWiM Editor Janet Otieno had a chat with Melody and she shared the following regarding her win.

 What difference will this award make in your career?


I have received this award at a time there are consented efforts both on national and international levels to curb child sexual abuse which has become rampant.
In Zimbabwe, there has also been an increase in a child on child social abuse. This trend is very worrying and experts have attributed this to exposure to social media with parents failing to monitor their children’s activities.
This calls for a shift in the way we report on sexual abuse issues. As the cases are coming up, I believe as a journalist  the onus is upon me and my colleagues not only to expose these cases but  to influence and  join hands with policymakers and parents to find lasting solutions to this problem which is   seeing children, especially girls being denied the joy  of experiencing their
childhood.
I believe participating in such a move would be a great honour in my career growth path. Experts have estimated the number of children living in conditions where their basic rights are violated to be close to 300 million. Being part of the team that confronts the issue and tries to come up with solutions to the persistently high rate of child rights violations is such a great career move.


What difference have you made as a journalist concerning the subject area of this award which is the rights and welfare of children?

Having practised as a business journalist for the greater part of my career life, my exposure and participation in this area have been very limited and I feel this award is going to make a big difference.
However early this year, I was confronted with a case of a young girl who was sexually abused by her employer. Despite being a minor, this girl was working as a maid in a high-density suburb just outside Harare.
Being the firstborn in her family and a sick single mother, she had to give up her childhood to earn a living. Unfortunately, she was raped. I had to use my connections to get her legal and physiological support.
Unfortunately, all the efforts and the long hours I put into fighting for her honour went down the drain when she deliberately failed to show up on the most crucial day of the court hearing. Behind my back, the girl took money from the perpetrator and his family to kill the case.
 In her words, she said “I will never get back to being a virgin again. So I better take the money and do the things I’m supposed to do.
Besides, I was told by a prophet at church that if I let this matter sail through the courts, I will go mad”.
 This experience was so heartbreaking it is one of the issues that drove me to do this story having realised religion and poverty had a very strong hand in promoting sexual abuse in children. Whenever I think I think of this case, I feel a very strong urge to help girls like her or who might eventually end up like her.

What contribution have you made to the journalism profession that is most meaningful to you?
In Zimbabwe, I am one of the few female business journalists. This one is a hard hat area mainly preserved for male colleagues. I have and I still help a few young female journalists to be able to handle the beat. Unfortunately, the media space is very small thus high numbers of employment but I’m glad to have imparted the skills.

How would you use being the recipient of this award to influence others and how would it impact your career?
As I have mentioned above, this is the beginning of a journey for me that I hope will motivate my colleagues to fight for the protection of the rights of children. There is an adage that goes: The pen is mightier than the sword,’ Together we can make a difference by tackling children’s rights issues through writing.

What is your greatest career accomplishment?
I was assigned with the huge task of editing the companies’ flagship magazines, the Quoted Companies’ and the Banks and Banking magazines just a year after being employed as a junior reporter. I was later to be promoted to senior reporter. For me, this is an accomplishment I will
never take it lightly.

If you could do one thing, leave one mark, on the journalism profession, what would it be?
I would mentor hundreds of young female journalists on how to survive the newsroom as a girl child. This one would be fulfilling because it is very tough being a woman in a newsroom be it in terms of career advancement or sexual harassment.