Editors from Botswana, Jordan and the Philippines have received the 2023 Wan-Ifra Women in News Editorial Leadership Award.
Emang Mutapati, editor-in-chief of The Voice in Botswana, has been named 2023 Laureate for Africa; Lina Ejeilat, co-founder and editor-in-chief of 7iber in Jordan, has been named 2023 Laureate for the Arab Region; and Glenda Gloria, the executive editor and co-founder of Rappler in The Philippines, has been named 2023 Laureate for Southeast Asia.
The 9th annual WIN Editorial Leadership Awards recognize the exemplary contribution of an editor to her newsroom, and under her leadership, her media organization’s contribution to society. The 2023 Laureates were honored on the opening day of Wan-Ifra’s World News Media Congress in Taipei, Taiwan.
“My sincere congratulations to Emang Mutapati, Lina Ejeilat, and Glenda Gloria for this deserved recognition,” said Vincent Peyregne, CEO, Wan-Ifra. “Diversity and inclusion must be central to any media’s business model, yet still today women are underrepresented at the most senior editorial levels. In recognizing the substantial editorial achievements of these exceptional newsroom leaders we are also shining a light on the continued gap we need to bridge as an industry to bring more diverse voices and leadership into our news.”
Emang Mutapati, editor-in-chief of The Voice, Botswana, is also the current chairperson of the Botswana Editors Forum. She has been an inextricable part of her organization’s growth, having joined The Voice 30 years ago when she was 19. As an editor, she has steered its growth to become the country’s one of the leading print publication.
“My win is a win for independent journalism. It’s a win for journalism underpinned by inclusivity, gender balance, equity, and diversity. This profession can sometimes feel like a thankless one, so it feels great to get this pat on the back that says, ‘We see what you’re doing and we affirm you’. I feel like the media chose me, so I have treated it as a calling, as a space that allows me to give a voice to those who don’t have a voice. This win is a win for all the people I have worked with over the decades, building something from nothing, and now we’re here where we have become the best-selling newspaper in Botswana. We are having an impact,” said Mutapati.
Lina Ejeilat, executive editor of 7iber.com, co-founded the website in 2007 as a blog and citizen-media platform and helped transform it into a professional online magazine that produces in-depth multimedia journalism and critical analysis and commentary on political, economic, social, and cultural issues from Jordan and the Arab region. Lina also teaches digital media and data journalism to MA students at the Jordan Media Institute since 2010 and leads training workshops in Jordan and the region.
“This award, in addition to being a great appreciation for my work, makes me feel that I now have a big responsibility towards the 7iber team of staff, contributors, readers, and mostly towards all the people who trust us with their stories. I feel that despite the challenges and obstacles, including the narrowing of freedoms in the public sphere and the difficulty to sustain independent media organizations, there is a responsibility to keep trying to put forward the type of journalism we provide,” said Ejeilat.
Glenda Gloria is a seasoned news executive with over 30 years of experience as a journalist, editor, manager, and author. She is the executive editor and co-founder of Rappler in The Philippines. “I consider this award a tribute to newsroom leaders and managers in the global south, like myself, who serve as the gatekeepers fighting for newsroom independence every single day. They have to navigate the demands of public service and the requirements of keeping a business alive. They also have to set the editorial agenda at a time when our readers and viewers are inundated with disinformation. It has been a most challenging time for newsroom leaders of my generation, but this award is telling us to carry on and keep going despite doubts about our relevance given the polluted information ecosystem. This award means that there’s reason to hope and dream big again so that we can collectively craft a sustainable way forward,” said Gloria.
Previous Laureates of the WIN Editorial Leadership Award include, Toyosi Ogunseye, a former senior news editor at BBC; Karima Kamal, columnist and contributing editor for the Egyptian daily Al Masry Al Youm; Pamella Sittoni, group managing editor for the Daily Nation in Kenya; Noura al-Hourani, lead arabic editor at Syria Direct; Barbara Kaija, editor-in-chief of the Vision Group in Uganda; Anna Nimiriano, the editor-in-chief of the Juba Monitor in South Sudan; Acil Tabbara, senior editor at the French-language Lebanese daily L’Orient Le Jour; Mary Mbewe, the executive editor of Zambia’s Daily Nation; Etaf Roudan, the director of Radio al-Balad in Jordan; Edyth Kambalame, editor at The Nation on Sunday and vice-president of the Malawi Editors’ Forum; Samia Nakhoul, Middle East Editor at Thomson Reuters and multi-award winning journalist; Nyein Nyein Naing, editor-in-chief at 7Day News digital in Myanmar; Faith Zaba, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent in Zimbabwe; Diana Moukallaed, the co-founder of Daraj.com in Lebanon; and Regina Reyes former head of news and current affairs at ABS-CBN Corporation in the Philippines.
The Laureates are selected by members of the Women in News Global Steering Committee based on criteria such as commitment to editorial excellence, gender equality, and supporting the next generation of media leaders.
