By Chibuike Nwabuko
Abuja (Sundiata Post) – Daily Beast correspondent, Philip Obaji—along with nine others—has been longlisted for the 2023 One World Media (OWM) International Journalist of the Year award, which recognizes a filmmaker or journalist working in any medium who has made the most outstanding contribution to international journalism during the past year.
Obaji’s recognition is as a result of his two and a half year investigation that uncovered how teen girls were advertised as maids and sold on Facebook after the social media company did nothing for over 24 hours.
Others longlisted for the International Journalist of the Year award are Alex Crawford, Sky News; Ankita Anand, Unbias the News; Bel Trew, The Independent; Damilola Ayeni, Foundation for Investigative Journalism; David Pilling, Financial Times; Mohammed Amin, Middle East Eye; Oscar Lopez, The New York Times; Vince Chadwick, Devex; and Varsha Bansal, a freelance journalist. A shortlist would be announced in May before a winner is named the following month.
The International Journalist of the Year award is one of 15 categories of the prestigious OWM Awards, which celebrate the media’s best coverage of the global south, spotlighting underreported stories that break stereotypes, change the narrative and connect people across cultures.
More than 600 submissions from over 110 countries in the Global South were received this year, according to the organizers who announced on Wednesday that the awards ceremony will take place on June 21 at Curzon Soho, London, and live streamed across the world.
