Introduction

Media Council of Kenya Mandate

The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) is a statutory and self-regulatory body established through the Media Council Act 2013 to regulate and enhance the journalism profession, and protect media freedom in Kenya. The Council executes this mandate through professional training on values and ethics of journalism, engaging journalists and media players on emerging issues, and monitoring digital, broadcast and print media. MCK in its strategic plan 2018-2023, focuses on enhancing media development and ensuring high standards of professional journalism practice.

About AJEA

The Annual Journalism Excellence Awards (AJEA) Kenya’s prestigious journalism awards, given since 2012 for print, broadcast, and now digital journalism. AJEA has consistently demonstrated its commitment to shining light on critical issues that shape the Kenyan society and the media landscape. Through the Awards, the media has helped inform and trigger debates, nurture dialogue, and advance understanding of the defining challenges of current times.

The awards are a continuous annual recognition and celebration of journalistic excellence and achievement in Kenya. The awards culminate in a gala dinner organized to showcase stories and writers who have upheld professionalism in the media industry during the past year. The key objectives of the AJEA are:

To identify, celebrate and maintain ethics and excellence in journalism, uphold democracy, integrity, and accountability in society. and the media industry in general.
Recognize journalists who have demonstrated high standards of reportage and ethics in their work.
To identify areas of capacity need for journalists and media practitioners to maintain standards of excellence in the profession.
To motivate young journalists to seek to excel in their work and grow in the profession.

AJEA 2025 Categories

The awards categories have been dynamic to embrace emerging issues and new media platforms. The Awards categories this year are:

The Annual Journalism Excellence Awards (AJEA) entries consist of the following four formats:

· Print Journalism: News features / articles published in newspapers, magazines/ journals and newsletters;

· Radio Journalism: Programmes, news stories and features created for audio;

· Television Journalism: News, articles /features, documentary or discussion programmes for audio-visual media

· Digital Online / new media: Features, articles and news reports published or broadcast online.