By Isaac Akugizibwe

KIU, Main Campus - Jennifer Sylvia Alokit a third-year student of Mass communication at KIU received 500,000 shillings cash prize after emerging as the best community reporter during the Media Mega Star Awards Ceremony on Saturday 20th November 2021.

The Media Mega Star Awards Ceremony was hosted by the Kabalagala based Mediapreneurship Hub, a profit-minded non-governmental organization that focuses on harnessing media and entrepreneurship. The awards were created to motivate and appreciate media students from different Universities who participated in the Media Mega Stars competition in October 2021.

The Media Mega Stars Competition focused on tales of COVID-19 and Education where students were required to exhibit their skills and abilities in categories like storytelling, community reporting, data Journalism, video editing, and solutions journalism.

When it came to Community Reporting, KIU proved unbeatable with star lady Jennifer Sylvia Alokit producing an outstanding, well-researched, and articulated community story that saw her claim a 500,000 shillings prize.

Talking to KIU news, Alokit admitted that she never saw it coming given the stiff competition in the Community Reporting Category.

"First of all I didn't expect myself to emerge, winner, because it was some tight competition in my category but then I feel great and so happy till now that I emerged the winner of the competition," Alokit said.

 "I did my work with passion. We had to talk about the negativity of COVID-19 to students but I did not only look at the negative but also looked at positive side; that was starting up a business. I think this gave me an edge to beat other contenders," Alokit explained what could have given her a winning edge.

Her story featured a financially strained law student identified as Stella who suffered the wrath of COVID-19  pandemic while attending virtual classes at Law Development Center. The character Stella has been financially constrained even before the lockdown but her never say never spirit has been keeping her afloat. She started seeing light at the end of the tunnel when she decided to start up a small business selling clothes from where she now gets some money to buy handouts and also cater for her other needs.

Though she never knew that this story would make her a star, Alokit is a passionate lady who believes in possibilities. She is grateful to KIU and the Mediapreneurship hub for giving her a chance to express her skills and passion. She said that the Media Mega Stars Competition has opened her eyes and doors that will enable her to explore more heights.

"The Media Mega Stars Competition has opened a great door for me. I am standing out of my comfort zone," she declared.

Apart from the 500,000 shillings cash prize, Alokit will be given free media training sessions in order to help her acquire more skills and also meet media and non-media professionals.