NABJ bestowed the Percy Qoboza Award for courage in pursuit of truth to Fred M’membe, editor of The Post of Zambia and his staff. The Zambian government shut down the newspaper to obstruct its ability to cover this week’s elections. Authorities arrested and beat M’membe his wife. Despite the setbacks, M’membe moved his staff to a nearby vacant lot and continued to produce the newspaper.
NABJ President Sarah Glover called on Zambia to drop charges against the staff & get out of the way of truth. Congratulations and onward!
NABJ annually awards the Percy Qoboza Award to honor groundbreaking, and sometimes life-threatening, work done by foreign journalists covering the Diaspora. The award is named for Percy Peter Tshidiso Qoboza, editor of The World newspaper in Soweto, South Africa, whose powerful columns ranged from coverage of the 1976 Soweto riots to the tragic horror of apartheid and the white minority government’s treatment of millions of black Africans.
During his tenure, The World became the most read newspaper by South Africa’s black population. He died at 50. The Qoboza is “awarded to a foreign journalist who has done extraordinary work – while overcoming tremendous obstacles – that contributes to the enrichment, understanding or advancement of people or issues in the African Diaspora.”
To nominate someone for the Qoboza Award, visit www.nabj.org.