KIU, Main Campus - Noah Omuya, a journalism student set to graduate with a Bachelor of Mass Communication from Kampala International University, recently joined 100 delegates who participated in the British Council Future News Worldwide Conference at the BBC in London, England on July 15.

The event was held virtually this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic which rendered flights to England impossible because of the lockdown.

 FutureNews Worldwide is a partnership programme between the British Council and some of the world’s leading media organizations that include BBC and Reuters News Agency, intending to support young people to develop journalism skills.

Each year, the British Council brings together 100 of the world's most talented, motivated, and passionate young journalists to attend intensive media training programs. Omuya is the first Ugandan to qualify for the Future News Conference since it was inaugurated in 2015.

According to Future News Worldwide, participants receive exclusive coaching from world-leading editors, broadcasters, writers, and reporters.

“This was my third attempt and I finally qualified after two successive failures. My H.O.D (Head of Department), Madam Joan Owade had written two recommendations to the BBC for me in 2018 and 2019,” Omuya said in a telephone interview.

Omuya, who is also the Founder and CEO of AICA Media, said that the knowledge he learned from KIU over the last three years finally helped him realize his dream.

“I have continuously written articles and published on my website. Most people used to ask me why I keep on writing stories about Climate Change among others that do not attract the attention of most of the people,” he said.

Besides being selected among the 100 best young journalists, Omuya has scooped different awards like the Best Future Essay Writer in 2018 which also qualified him into the Media challenge Fellowship Program training.

In 2019, he again won a Media Challenge award as the best emerging photojournalist of the year. In the same year, he was selected to be among the African Journalists to attend the DUNIA CFI Conference on Climate Change Risk Reporting which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Omuya's star continues to rise and he is currently participating in a Virtual fellowship on Climate Change and Energy Reporting with Climate Tracker, and a mentorship program on Data Journalism with InfoNile/ Code for Africa. 

Internet photo