NMMA: Why we don’t grade online contents — Organisers

•Declare 972, out of 1112 entries valid for 2026 assessment

Organisers of the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA) said the competition has continued to shut its doors against online platforms, due to the near-absence of regulation and ethics in the space.

Chairman, Board of Trustees, NMMA, Professor Dayo Duyile, stated this at the formal presentation of the NMMA 2026  processed entries to the award’s Panel of Assessors, in Lagos.

Professor Duyile also disclosed that out of 1112 entries submitted  from print, television and radio, only 972 qualified for evaluation.

The deputy Vice Chancellor, Wesley University, Ondo, explained further that the assessors would be broken into groups, with three groups handling the Print Category, since the category submitted the largest number of entries.

The TV and radio categories, he stated,  are expected to be assessed by one group each.

“In all, the panel of assessors, to be chaired by veteran journalist, Otunba Dele Adetiba, will be 27 in number, with each assessor expected to work individually.

“After that, each group will meet to find an aggregate, and we believe this is necessary to prevent any kind of individual bent, and ensure fairness, transparent and enhance the integrity of the Award,” he added.

On the continued exclusion of works from the digital platform, Professor Duyile assured that the organisers had not foreclosed the possibility of admitting works from that platform in future.

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He, however, insisted the award would only be open to Online Journalism, when practitioners there must have demonstrated some good measure of professionalism and compliance to the rules and regulations guiding journalism practice.

While assuring the board of his members’ readiness to do a good a job, Otunba Adetiba, cautioned that entries submitted must comply with the rules guiding the Award before standing any chance of winning.

The veteran sports broadcaster assured that the panel would deliver between 6-8 weeks given it to deliver on the task.

He explained that one of the innovations brought into this year’s edition of the Award was the digital submission of materials to further make the process seamless.