User:Rythmns/John mwendwa gitari

John Mwendwa Gitari, a five time award winning journalist is the founding and current Head of News at Kenya's first 24 Hour news and information television channel, K24. He honed his skills at Kenya Television Network where he worked as reporter, Senior Reporter, Alternate Editor/Late Night Producer, Associate Editor, News Producer and Output Editor. He was awarded the Kenya TV Journalist of the Year Award for dynamism, depth, flair, and bravery in reporting a wide range of issues, and the CNN Africa Journalist of the Year in Television News for his story on the exploitation of street children. He won first prize of the prestigious Peter Jenkins East Africa Award for Conservation and Environment for Eastern Africa for his story on squatters and forests, was runners up for the UNESCO Red Ribbon Awards for reporting on HIV/AIDS for East, Central and Southern Africa. He also scooped the Kenya Media Trust Journalist of the Year for TV Magazine reporting and won a honorary Marekebisho Award under Kenya's GJLOS programme for his story on the Vigilantes of Kisii. John has covered a wide range of issues and events across Kenya, the continent, Europe and the United States of America. This includes the Kenya Airways crash in Cote de'Ivoire, The Africa Development Forum on Aids in Ethiopia, among numerous other stories. His treatise "What Hit Americans Most was not the Devastation by Hurricane Katrina, but it's exposure to poverty" is captured in the book by Toyin Falola, Niyi Afolabi (ed.): African Minorities in the New World (New York: Routlege, 2008), pp 23-24. ISBN 020-39-3251. In Africa he covered the impact of land reforms in Zimbabwe, which included one of the few interviews with President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. He also worked as an attache' at the United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO). His first major project after graduation was to write a book, The Gospel on a Camel's Back: The Story of Andrew Adano Tuye, (Nairobi: Kenya, National Council of Churches of Kenya, 1998). John’s expertise includes script writing, editing and producing news stories, documentaries and programs that reflect and impact on community life. John holds a degree in Communication from Daystar University in Nairobi and is a Catherine W. Fanning Research Fellow in Journalism and Democracy. He has also undertaken numerous courses in Media and management and has spoken at various universities in Kenya and the United States on Journalism. John is also an Associate Member of the Kenya Editors Guild, the Kenya Media Network on Population and Health issues (KEMEP), and founding member of the African Media Initiative on Development (AMID).