African Digital Media Awards 2022

Joan is the Echo Editor (Social Media Editor) at the Standard Group Ltd. She is passionate about using digital media to better the lives of people and businesses. Joan has worked in the digital space for nine years, working with various media houses in Kenya in digital/online and social media content development for TV, radio and print. She has been involved in content production, social media and website updates and management, digital marketing, online public relations and social media campaigns execution​.

I am a Kenyan journalist currently working for the BBC in London. I was a 2015 John S. Knight journalism fellow at Stanford University.

During the year-long fellowship, which focusses on leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship, I collaborated with 19 other journalists from various fields to innovate around journalism’s biggest challenges. I also organised the first ever drone journalism conference, held in Silicon Valley with support from the Center for Investigative Reporting and the News Lab at Google.  I founded AfricanSkyCAM, Africa’s first drone journalism project.

I was the founding digital content manager at the Star newspaper in Kenya where I led the establishment of the newspaper’s digital department.

My interest is in using new technology for storytelling and integrating the public in the news reporting process. I have been a speaker on several media subjects including drone journalism, digital publishing platforms, media trends, mobile journalism, social media for news, user engagement and crowdsourcing news, at several journalism conferences around the world including: SxSw, re:publica, ONA and the World News Media Congress. I also contributed to BBC’s Future of News 2015 Report.

I am a digital media strategist and I have judged several digital media awards including WAN-IFRA’s World Digital Media Awards.

I host and produce The Dickens Olewe Podcast where I interview guests on media, politics and technology in Africa.

Nic Newman is Research Associate at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism where he writes on the future of digital media. He is lead author of the Digital News Report the world’s biggest and most authoritative survey of changing news consumption and was joint author of a recent report on the Future of Online Video.

Danyelle is the Senior Director for Audience at The Salt Lake Tribune where she focuses on audience growth and retention strategies across all Salt Lake Tribune touch points, including the website, email, the app, social, podcasts and more, as well as building loyal audiences that convert to subscribers while expanding The Tribune’s reach with newer visitors.

She is responsible for leading growth in paid digital subscribers and works to convert digital engagement to revenue growth. Danyelle leads the audience growth team and the marketing/branding strategy that supports it, in addition to the news events, user experience, product and analytics teams.

She also partners closely with the Editor in Chief to manage the stream of communication between the newsroom and audience, informing the newsroom on distribution best practices to ensure their content has the widest reach possible, while maintaining the journalistic integrity of The Salt Lake Tribune.

Since joining WAN-IFRA in 1997, Valérie has accrued more than 20 years of experience as a media journalist. Currently, she is a team member of WAN-IFRA’s Global Advisory division where she works with the Advisory Team in leading global consulting projects. She is also the Programme Lead for WAN-IFRA’s top global conferences including: World News Media Congress and our Digital Media Event Series. She has contributed to numerous research reports, including Alternative Revenue Streams for Publishers. As part of her research, Valérie interviewed numerous publishers who had found success discovering new business models – whether its through events, e-commerce, video or marketing services – Valérie has experience taking the pulse on what generates revenue for publishers.

Dr. Chege is the Director, Innovation Centre at the Graduate School of Media and Communications- Aga Khan University. The Innovation Centre is aimed at enhancing media viability in East Africa. Based in Nairobi, the center provides training, coaching and mentorship to media innovators in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Njoki has over 9 years’ experience in the media as a journalist and editor. As the Editor, Lifestyle (Pishi) at Nation Media Group, she was responsible for Pishi, an innovative lifestyle content project. Her research interests focus on media innovation and sustainability. She has previously taught graduate courses at Daystar University.

Fanny is a French digital journalist and editor, born and raised in Paris. She cut her teeth working for different media organisations (RTL, Metro, LCI) before joining Le Parisien in 2018.

In the newsroom she has been tasked with various responsibilities that have included data visualization projects, pushing notifications on desktop homepage + mobile, plus much more. As of October 2019, she joined the Audience and Engagement desk where she’s been in charge of the newsletter portfolio.

Denis Jjuuko is a former United Nations media consultant who holds a Master of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies of Rhodes University, South Africa as well as a Bachelor of Mass Communication from Makerere University. Denis’ papers on media and communications have been published by Rhodes University and other international journals.

Denis Jjuuko has worked as a communication consultant/specialist for several international organizations such as World Health Organisation where he designed a Health Education and Promotion Strategy for the Ministry of Health of South Sudan and International Labour Organisation (ILO) where he trained journalists across the country. Denis has consulted for the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC), Uganda Cares, World Bank, German Technical Cooperation (now GIZ), Greenpeace, Baylor College of Medicine Children’s Hospital Foundation, Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, KCB Bank, Blue Finance, Rhodes, USAID, and DFID among others. Denis has also worked for government ministries such as the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uganda and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands. He has also worked on several projects in South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Libya.

Denis is a founder member of the Nepad African Journalism Network, a journalism lecturer and trainer. He is a Rotarian.

Cherilyn Ireton leads the World Editors Forum, the community for professional editors within the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). Now UK based, she worked as a journalist and editorial manager in South Africa before joining WAN-IFRA in 2012.

Dean is Director of Insights and Editor-in-Chief of WAN-IFRA, he is responsible for coordinating all activities related to the organisation’s array of multimedia publications. He has more than 25 years’ experience working in the news publishing industry, much of that time spent researching, analysing, identifying and ultimately reporting about global media developments.

Caroline Southey is the Founding Editor of The Conversation Africa. Previously Caroline was editor of the Financial Mail in South Africa. Prior to that she worked for the Financial Times in London and Brussels in various roles over 17 years including as World Desk Editor and as a foreign correspondent covering European Union agriculture and social policy.

Chris Roper is deputy CEO for the continent’s largest federation of civic technology and data journalism labs, Code for Africa (CfA).
Using over two decades of insights from building Africa’s largest online news and content portals, Chris shapes CfA’s civic engagement and scaling strategies. He also serves as director for CfA’s forensic data initiative, the African Network of Centres for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR). From 2015 – 2019, Chris’ role at CfA was underwritten by a Knight International Fellowship, with the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ)

Prior to joining CfA, Chris was editor-in-chief of Africa’s first newspaper to establish an internet presence, the Mail & Guardian. Before M&G, Chris was editor-in-chief of Africa’s largest online publisher, 24.com, where he managed the merger of MWEB and News24 editorial content into the biggest digital content offering in Africa.

Chris has taught journalism courses at the Universities of Pretoria, and the Polytechnic of Namibia. Chris has served as a judge on, among others, the SA Bookmark Digital Awards, the British Council Future of News competition, the NuMedia Plum Awards, the WAN-IFRA Digital Media Awards, and the PICA Awards. He frequently consults to publishing houses in his capacity as a Code for Africa strategist.

Pontsho Pilane is a journalist, editor, media lecturer and trainer with a focus in health, race and gender and how they intersect. She’s interested in using communications as a tool for social change. Prior to that Pilane was the senior writer at Health-eNews, and was formerly a health reporter at Bhekisisa, the Mail and Guardian’s centre for health journalism. She debuted as a journalist at The Daily Vox, where she wrote primarily about gender, race and how they intersect. Pilane holds two degrees in media studies from Wits University.

As a kid born and bred in a family of journalists, where my father used to be a radio journalist and my mom is still an active journalist at a local newspaper, I was always close to the media environment. I joined Gazeta Wyborcza, the biggest Polish opinion-making newspaper, in 2017 as a Social Media Manager.

Since 2018 my role changed into Subscription Growth Manager – I used to manage the acquisition team which was responsible for gaining new subscriptions, acquisition strategy, and the offer itself.

A key achievement during my work-life at Gazeta Wyborcza was definitely changing our subscription offer from on-off payments to recurring ones, which have changed the business model completely. The strategy had been recognized by WAN-IFRA with the European Media Award in the ‘Best Paid Content Strategy in Europe’ category in 2020 and a year after I was honored to be one of the judges in the competition.

After 4 awesome years at Wyborcza, I decided to leave and start the new episode of my career, still in the subscription field – at Puls Biznesu (part of Bonnier Business) – the biggest Polish business daily.

At Puls Biznesu, the team I managed was responsible for acquisition, retention, ARPU, CLTV, pricing, conversion rate, and reducing pain points on the purchase path with high-quality content along. Currently Subscription Acquisition Manager at Ringier Axel Springer Polska.

Jane Godia has over 20 years as an editor and trainer. She worked in mainstream media and rose to the position of Deputy Managing Editor. Currently, she is in In-charge Acting as Executive Director African Gender and Media Initiative (GEM) Trust. She is Project Manager for WIN Programme in East and Central. She previously served as Coach for WIN Kenya. She has consulted a lot in media development, gender, training and coaching. She is a core expert on training in Gender Based Violence and Sexual Harassment in the work place. She holds a Masters of Arts (MA) in Gender and Development and post-graduate Diplomas in Journalism, Media studies and Gender and Development.

Sarah is a Program Manager with the Google News Initiative team where she works with the applicants and recipients of the DNI Fund in Europe and the GNI Innovation Challenges globally. She is a regular speaker at conferences in the UK and overseas, broadcast interviewee and commentator on issues relating to media, digital journalism and community.

Tshepo Tshabalala is the Project Manager and Team Lead of JournalismAI, which is a research and training project run by Polis – the international journalism think-tank of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Previously, Tshepo was the Director, responsible for the growth and strategic direction for Jamlab. He was previously the interim project director, as well as founding digital editor for the Jamlab digital publications and web editor for www.journalism.co.za both based at the journalism and media studies department at the University of the Witwatersrand. Jamlab is the continent’s first journalism and media lab which aims to support more and better innovation in journalism and media in Africa.

Khalil works to bring more value to more people in more places with The Conversation’s unique evidence-based journalism. He oversees audience growth, engagement retention and monetisation, working with a global team spanning six continents.

Vincent Kahiya is Zimbabwean-based vastly experienced Communications Practitioner with over twenty-five years of practice covering Reporting, Editing, Public Relations and Public Information Management. He is an International Trainer in Journalism, Change Management, Media Strategy, Social Media Policy & Governance, and Digital Media Project Development. He holds qualifications in Journalism and Communications, Public Relations, Public Information Management and Business Leadership.

Vincent was Editor of the Zimbabwe Independent (theindependent.co.zw) for six years (2004-2010) before becoming Founding Editor of NewsDay (newsday.co.zw) in 2010. Between 2015 and 2017, he led publishing company Alpha Media Holdings as Managing Director before joining Oxgn PR as Managing Consultant and currently he is the COO of Corporate Communications firm VPCG (vpcg.co.zw). In this role, he advises on Corporate Communications Strategy and Reputation Management to local and international organisations.

Vincent T Kahiya is a Steering Committee Member under WAN-IFRA Women-In-News programme and Lead Trainer in WIN-Advisory.

Camilla is the project manager for VG’s sound and screen products, and is responsible, among other things, for looking after VG’s universe of smart voice assistants. She came from the position of project manager for VG’s Snapchat department, where she has been part of the team since the start in January 2017. VG’s work on Snapchat has received several international awards, including Digiday and Schibsted Journalism Awards. Camilla is behind Norway’s most-viewed Facebook video, Trump’s wig show, which has been seen by over 30 million. She has a background from TV 2 helper deg, NRK, Fredriksstad Blad and Halden Arbeiderblad. Camilla has studied journalism in Volda and human rights in New York.

Lyndsey Jones is a publishing consultant, digital transformation expert, strategic advisor and coach, working with media groups in Africa and Europe either independently or via WAN-IFRA, Women in News, FT Strategies and other consultancy agencies.

Steffen Damborg (MBA) is a digital transformation specialist with 10 plus years of experience in all aspects of running an online business in the media industry. He is a former Digital Director and Chief Development Officer at the leading Danish publisher, JP/Politikens Hus, and is currently focusing on Digital Transformation for global media organisations accrued from his knowledge of working extensively in the Scandinavian market. His digital transformation experience includes different aspects of online media management, strategic development and emergent approaches towards new sustainable digital business models in the disrupted Nordic media market and beyond.

Brian is a Senior Editor at WAN-IFRA and specialises in reporting about reader revenue, advertising and general management topics for our website and reports. He is the editor of WAN-IFRA’s Reader Revenue newsletter and a contributor to our daily Executive News Service newsletter. Before joining WAN-IFRA, he worked as an editor at several daily newspapers.