Stakeholders, including businesses, institutions and development partners, have been urged to support quality journalism by sponsoring the 2026 Samia Kalamu Awards (SKA), with organisers saying investment in professional reporting is critical to national development.
The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) Director General, Peter Mwasalyanda, made the call on Thursday as he announced that 294 entries had made it to the public voting stage of this year’s awards.
Mr Mwasalyanda said sponsorship would help recognise journalists producing accurate, ethical and innovative content while creating incentives for media organisations to maintain professional standards.
He said supporting the awards should not only be viewed as funding a competition but also as an investment in journalism that informs citizens and highlights issues affecting communities.
“The participation of stakeholders through sponsorship is an important part of recognising, promoting and encouraging quality, professional and innovative journalism, as well as content that benefits society,” Mr Mwasalyanda said.
This year’s competition attracted 3,003 entries from 985 applicants. Following assessment by the judging panel, 294 entries that scored highly qualified for the public voting stage.
Tanzania Media Women’s Association (TAMWA) Executive Director Rose Reuben called on citizens to participate in the voting, saying the public plays an important role in determining which stories have had the greatest impact on their communities.
“Public voting is very important in promoting and recognising local content and helping Tanzania gain international recognition through professionally produced stories by talented journalists participating in SKA 2026,” Dr Reuben said.
The awards also provide an opportunity to assess the issues being covered by Tanzanian journalists and the quality of reporting reaching the public.
A member of the SKA 2026 judging panel, Beatrice Bandawe, said the judging process had demonstrated that local journalists were increasingly able to identify and report development issues across the country.
“Our assessment of the SKA 2026 entries showed that Tanzanian journalists have a strong ability to highlight various development issues at all levels across the country,” Ms Bandawe said.
The Samia Kalamu Awards feature several categories covering journalists, public information officers and media organisations, with entries based on work published or broadcast during the specified competition period.
The awards are organised by TCRA in collaboration with TAMWA and the Journalists Association of Tanzania (JAB) under the theme “Kalamu kwa Maendeleo” (The Pen for Development).
The organisers said greater support from the private sector and development partners would help strengthen the awards and provide a stronger platform for recognising journalism that informs the public, holds institutions to account and contributes to national development.