Mary Mbewe wins top editorial leadership award for Africa

WAN-IFRA Women in News will on Tuesday name Mary Mbewe, Executive Editor of the Daily Nation in Zambia as the 2020 WIN Editorial Leadership Award Laureate for Africa.

The announcement will be made at WAN-IFRA’s Digital Media Africa conference.

Mbewe has had a prestigious career that has spanned 30 years in the industry and includes serving as the first woman Editor-in-Chief of a major newspaper in Zambia.

She has dedicated her work to telling human stories, often of marginalised people and communities which too often get left behind.

She has invested herself in the training and development of journalists starting their career and has acted as a mentor and inspiration to many women journalists.

The WIN Editorial Leadership Award selects one outstanding editor from Sub-Saharan Africa and one from the Arab Region, annually.

The Award recognises excellence in leadership, and an unwavering commitment to equality and press freedom. Candidates are selected by the Award Selection Committee, which comprises members of the WIN Steering Committee as well as previous Laureates.

Who is Mary Mbewe?

Mary Mbewe is the Executive Editor of the Daily Nation Newspaper, one of the three major newspapers in Zambia.

She has been in her current position since May 2017 when she joined the company. Prior to this position, she had served as Chief Sub Editor and Personnel Officer.

Mary started her journalism career with the Zambia Daily Mail in 1991 and by 2000 was confirmed as Editor-in-chief, becoming the first woman at the paper, and in Zambia as a whole, to hold the prestigious position.

Mary is a founding member of the Zambia Union of journalists (ZUJ), and a member of the Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA) and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)’s Zambian Chapter.

In her acceptance letter to Women in News, Mary expressed her passion for telling true and authentic human stories of everyday Zambians who often go unnoticed.

“I am happy to be part of a team shaping a different narrative in supporting ordinary people. This award is therefore dedicated to all the hardworking men and women who spend hours making life easy for others,
such as the women in shelters. And of course, to the Zambian men and women in the media for striving to be better than the best, sailing and surviving through storms in a tough field – especially the havoc caused by
COVID-19.”

CEO of WAN-IFRA, Vincent Peyrègne congratulated Mary for the achievement and said the Award comes at a right time: “Recognising leadership and celebrating excellence is even more important in today’s context.

While media and the world remain gripped in this crisis of the global pandemic, Mary continues to exemplify excellence and resiliency bringing everyday news and human stories day after day.”

Previously the Awards have been held in-person but due to global COVID-19 pandemic, this year, the award ceremony will be held virtually. “It was our intention to hold an in-person Award Ceremony at the upcoming WAN-IFRA News Media Congress as is the tradition,” continued Peyrègne.

“The Congress itself was cancelled due to COVID-19, but we are hopeful that we can hold it as planned in June 2021, with Mary Mbewe being in attendance to accept the Award at that time.”