The Kings and Queens International School located in Paynesville City has been crowned as the champion of this year’s National Press Club Exhibition.
The National Press Club Exhibition, which was organized by Youth Media Action with support from Internews Liberia through the Liberia Media Activity project, is a news presentation challenge that features various high school press clubs across the country.
This year’s competition was in commemoration of the day of the African child and celebrated under the theme, “The Rights of an African child in a digital environment.”
The competition is a five-minute news presentation by young people in high schools who intend to venture into the journalism profession to showcase their media talents whilst enhancing the students’ journalism skills.
A panel of judges comprising of media veterans and experts is recruited to evaluate and grade the performance of the different schools to determine the winner.
Out of seventeen schools, Kings and Queens Press club obtained 92.8% to top the elementary category followed by Kingdom of Hope at 2nd place with 75.8% while Christian Missionary Fellowship Bilingual High School finished at 3rd place with 75.3%.
In the senior category, Kings and Queens topped with 91.3% while the College of West Africa and Monrovia College Industrial Training Center shared the 2nd place spot with 90.1% each.
Best Brains Academy finished 3rd with 88% followed by William V.S Tubman Gray High School from Bong County at 4th place with 87% while Belle Vue Eco-Smart International School dropped to 5th place with 82.6%.
Kings and Queens’s international school snatched the senior high title from Kingdom of Hope school system to walk away with L$ 60,000 while she retained the elementary title after winning it last year to bag home L$ 30,000, totaling their cash prize to L$ 90,000.
Albert Osborne Salvation Army High School in Margibi was decorated as the champion of the regional press Club exhibition, with the 2nd place winner being William V.S Tubman Gray High School of Bong County.
The Minister of Gender and Children Protection, Willimina Tarr, thanked Youth Media Action for providing young people especially students the space to learn about their career path.
Minister Tarr expressed excitement over the way Youth Media Action celebrated the Day of the African Child where Liberian youths are given insight about the importance of education.
“I am happy that Youth Media Action is celebrating the Day of the African Child in such a unique way with an academic challenge,” she added.
“These are certainly the future leaders and if Liberia is to be better, we all must embark on such initiatives for the younger generation,” she explained.
The Gender Minister was speaking when she served as the keynote speaker at the 5th National Press Club Exhibition where she challenged schools to take advantage of YMA youth journalism program.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Youth Media Action, Varmah Kamara, thanked all participating schools, local and international Partners, the Judges, and the Press Union of Liberia amongst others.
Mr. Kamara said the success of the 5th edition of the National Press Club exhibition was very hectic and a difficult one but he looks forward to seeing more schools in the 6th exhibition of the National Press Club Exhibition.
“The exhibition was very successful and we are grateful to all of our friends and partners, especially Internews Liberia and USAID, Sponsors, Judges and the Press Union of Liberia for helping to make this program a success,” he asserted.
He emphasized that INTERNEWS Liberia and USAID have been every instrumental in supporting youth journalism in Liberia which he termed as commendable.
For her part, the President of the Female Journalist association of Liberia (FEJAL), Siatta Scott Johnson, announcing Kings and Queens international School as the winner, revealed the school was exceptional.
“We want to say you are all winners but we were convinced by Kings and Queens due to their extraordinary performance to become the champions for both categories,” Madam Scott concluded.
The vice president of the Press Union of Liberia, Mr. Daniel Nyankonah, welcomed the initiative while he promised to work along with Youth Media Action to develop aspiring journalists in news collecting, reporting, and presentation.
Mr. Nyankona added that if the profession is to thrive, young people must be given the needed support at all levels by helping to equip them to contribute to society immensely by pledging the PUL support
“We cannot overemphasize the need to build the next generation of Journalists especially in these challenging times of the Liberian media,” he stressed.
Youth Media Action is a non-profit organization that seeks to build the capacity of young people in the media landscape.
Since its establishment in 2016, the YMA and its partners have worked to build the capacity of high school Journalists by providing them with a firm practical grounding in journalism through training opportunities and media exposure intended to inspire media reforms. YMA currently operates in ten of Liberia’s fifteen Counties with over forty High Schools in her network.
