One reporter I never met but keep hearing about is Sylvanus Ezieh of The Guardian Post newspaper. Based on stories from colleagues, he was a firebrand writer who plied his trade alongside the likes of Mua Patrick, Amindeh Blaise Atabong and Mbom Sixtus. So many years after his passing, his name continues to pop up here and there, with colleagues using every chance they get to give him his flowers.
In many ways, that is how journalism memory works in Cameroon. The names that stand the test of time are not always of those that were loudest in their time, but of the ones whose work, discipline and professional engagement left no one indifferent. However, many like him have gone on without ever being recognised adequately for their contributions to Cameroonian journalism. Granted, some might have, but these recognitions usually come in the sunset phases of their lives or in memoriam, after they journeyed on.
It is partly why the recent announcement of the Peter Essoka Prize for Excellence in Journalism, by the Ministry of External Relations ahead of the 2026 Commonwealth Day deserves genuine acknowledgement. In a profession where recognition is often delayed or almost non existent, deliberate efforts like this one should not go uncelebrated.
By backing a prize in honour of veteran media figure Peter Essoka, Minister Delegate Felix Mbayu has, at the very least, signalled that journalism still deserves structured recognition. The Cameroon Association of English-Speaking Journalists – CAMASEJ’s warm reception of the initiative also reflects the Anglophone media industry’s acknowledgement of the morale such a gesture has the potential to unleash. Being one of the few goodies many journos have in today’s newsroom, this morale is definitely of great importance.
Breaking past the gatekeepers and kingmakers
But prizes, by themselves, do not fix newsrooms.They do not automatically bridge the widening gap between what is taught in our journalism schools and what the modern media economy now demands. Prizes are not the DIY quick fix of the frustrations of many reporters who spend years producing solid work while waiting, sometimes endlessly, for their moment of visibility. To top it all off, media awards in most cases, hardly come with meat to make Junior’s breakfast appetising.
For a long time, our professional culture has tended, understandably, to spotlight mostly long-serving staff for their service, commitment and dedication to the profession (and sometimes media houses.) Granted, experience deserves respect especially in an environment like ours that hardly keeps any documented records of institutional or career memory. Yet there is an uncomfortable truth we must acknowledge or at least, let those willing to speak it talk: breaking into that fold is an uphill climb for many emerging journalists who feel their work is measured less by output and impact than by the approval of a few gatekeepers.
These “kingmakers” quietly decide who is deemed a good reporter and who is not, who gets mentored and who is left to navigate the challenges on their own. In such a system, merit can be overshadowed by patronage, visibility dictated by connections rather than quality, and the promise of recognition becomes as much about pleasing those in power as about the work itself. Shoutout to female journalists, who arguably have it even worse, navigating both these professional hurdles and the added pressures of gendered expectations in newsrooms.
In conversations across newsrooms, or for want of a more accurate depiction, whatsapp groups, the pattern is easy to spot: Young reporters are eager, skilled and increasingly digitally aware. But visibility comes slowly, if at all, only slower than recognition for their own contribution to journalism. Interestingly, many of these young reporters are not just chasing recognition, they are navigating survival. Some operate as stringers for years, others fund their own transport to assignments, pay for their own data to file stories, and still manage to make it the next day to newsrooms where bylines are uncertain and stipends thinner than the public assumes. In that environment, motivation is a rare currency.
And when recognition feels perpetually out of reach, discouragement and desperation happily fill the void. What usually follows is the cultivation of an easily manipulated sense of judgement and the obvious erosion of standards. Every Senior (or older?) journalist who is known today for anything other than ‘good journalism’ was once a young man or woman with big dreams about the job. This is not an attempt to excuse poor decisions, but to recognize the painful fact that the careers and lives of some, including those who have since passed, might have been far richer and more impactful had their work been seen, valued, and supported earlier. Understanding this, however, is useless if we do not plant the tree today for the next generation of journalists to sit under, giving them the recognition, mentorship, and encouragement that too often came too late for those who came before.
At the Camer Today News Project (CTNP), one clear learning moment curve for me has been witnessing the eagerness of young journalists to tell impactful stories, to be given room to do their work, and to have their voices heard in editorial meetings. I always tell them it is the same wish I carried into Revival Gospel Radio Buea, but today it is magnified tenfold among young reporters who also have the gifts and tools that digital media bestows. This is not about the new generation fighting the old school but more about making ladders and supports out of existing selective “fishing hooks” so that everyone can climb. Time has shown the table is large enough for all to eat, and the task now is to ensure that guidance, opportunity, and encouragement are shared so emerging journalists can thrive alongside seasoned professionals.
Back to base: Marching theory with evolving experiences
This is why the conversation around recognition must go beyond just prizes. And even these prizes must get their own fair share of the introspection. We must also ask how emerging journalists are being identified early enough to grow into impactful reporters, and how mentorship programmes (if they exist) are structured to correct mistakes before they become habits. How are newsrooms actively preparing the next generation to leave a lasting professional legacy and how is the industry ensuring that recognitions are awarded transparently, based on merit rather than connections or influence? These are the questions that matter if the awards are to mean more than just a fleeting moment of visibility which we will all post on Facebook and WhatsApp groups like Journalists of Integrity (JI).
Part of the answer lies upstream, in our classrooms. Across many journalism schools in Cameroon, the curriculum is still struggling to keep pace with the speed of newsroom evolution. Students graduate having mastered important theoretical foundations, but often with limited exposure to the real-time pressures of digital publishing, multimedia storytelling, audience analytics, and the commercial realities media houses and journalists are boxed into. In my own student days, platforms like the Chariot Newsletter and Chariot Radio were laboratories where we were fashioned like metal in a furnace. Yes, sometimes we were compelled to hawk the newspaper and return home late at night because we had to produce and present radio programmes, even on our worst days. But for some of us, the focus quickly shifted from the discomfort of selling to the pride of seeing our stories in circulation. That early immersion built instincts no two-hour lecture in a classroom could fully provide.
Today, the gap between classroom preparation and newsroom expectation is wider and more visible with increased exposure the media enjoys across the board. It is also why the design of journalism prizes increasingly matters. The Peter Essoka Prize, with its emphasis on “diction, articulation and overall delivery,” and broadcast professionalism, rightly recognises the enduring influence of radio and television in shaping public discourse. Broadcast journalists remain the most visible faces of the profession for millions of Cameroonians.
But shining bright in the public eye or making audiences drool with speech does not automatically reflect depth, difficulty, or “trustworthy journalism” which the Ministry of External Relations aim to celebrate. Behind every polished bulletin are field reporters navigating bad roads, reluctant sources, shrinking newsroom budgets and tight filing deadlines. Investigative work, data journalism, and long-form public-interest reporting often unfold far from the studios and the most visible faces are not always those doing the hardest, most vital work. As the profession evolves, the reward culture must continue asking itself how broadly it is capturing excellence.
The fine line: Gift of excellence or trojan horse?
None of this diminishes the value of the Peter Essoka prize. If anything, it makes its arrival more significant, because the growing prominence of journalism awards across Cameroon is itself telling us something. In many newsrooms, formal career progression structures are weak. Salary growth is uneven and mentorship is inconsistent. In that context, prizes have quietly become morale boosters, credibility markers and, sometimes, career accelerators.
That reality places even greater responsibility on how such platforms are designed, governed and sustained. It is therefore easy to understand why CAMASEJ gave a big bear hug to the MINREX award initiative. Recognition, when credible and consistent, can inspire healthier competition and restore some pride in the craft. The involvement of both public office and private sector support also signals a welcome understanding that journalism sustainability is a shared responsibility.
At the same time, it is important to treat such awards as a potential “Trojan horse” test moment. Cameroon’s media ecosystem does not have a strong track record of defending itself or resisting manipulation, and the visible involvement of government entities in initiatives like the MINREX awards inevitably raises questions. While these prizes can celebrate excellence, they also carry the risk of being perceived as attempts to curry favor or influence editorial perspectives. Recognition is welcome, but maintaining professional independence and critical distance remains essential if such awards are to truly strengthen, rather than subtly compromise, journalistic integrity.
The opportunity now is to ensure the ripple effects go further into classrooms, into community radio stations, into regional newsrooms that rarely make national headlines, and into the early careers of reporters still trying to find their professional voice.
If, years from now, a new generation of journalists can be remembered not just with respect but with the recognition and appreciation that many, like Sylvanus, never fully received, then we would know the ecosystem truly worked. Until that day, we applaud every effort to celebrate excellence and continue contributing our quota to building the pipeline.
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