INTERVIEW: Inspiring Women through Visibility—A Conversation with Prof Booker
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?
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.