Preparations for the 3rd annual Inter-Institutional media challenge have kicked off at the Department of Journalism and Communication of Makerere University.

Auditions to select participants for the grand finale started yesterday at the University’s department of Journalism and Communication.

While addressing the students at the audition, Douglas Ssebamala, the President of Makerere Journalism and Communication Association [MUJCA] an umbrella association for journalism students, urged students of support from the University.

“We are more than determined to bag all the awards because we are supposed to be number one,” Ssebamala said.

The Competition is an annual event, organized by the Global Media Challenge [GME]. It is in honor of Baale Francis for his tremendous contribution towards news anchoring in Uganda.

According to Abbas Mpindi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GME, journalism and mass communication students from various institutions of higher learning will compete in both English and Luganda News Anchoring and News Reporting respectively.

“Reporters will be required to present eight stories from different topics such as: National, Health, Education, Business, Sports, Environment, Politics and International news,” Mpindi said.

Students will also compete in Essay writing and Photography. The theme for this year’s challenge is “Child Poverty.”

Students are required to record and edit their stories prior to the grand finale, where they will be broadcast at UMA Exhibition hall on 18^th November, 2014.

Winners will get a one year fellowship with NTV, as well as other prizes.

This Challenge has always attracted various Universities and Media Institutes such as Makerere, Kampala University, IUIU, Kampala International University, Ndejje, Muteesa 1 Royal University, Nkumba, St. Lawrence University, Makerere Business Institute, Multitech, and Datamine.

Uganda Christian University and UMCAT School of Journalism and Communication won Trophies in 2012 and  2013 respectively.