23rd GJA Awards: Bernard Avle Named 2017 Journalist Of The Year

The host of the Citi Breakfast Show on Accra-based Citi FM, Bernard Avle, has been adjudged 2017 Journalist of the Year at the 23rd edition of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Awards.
Bernard Avle was honoured with the prestigious award at the ceremony held at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra.

Bernard Avle leads a pack of 36 journalists awarded out of 548 applications received by the GJA Awards Committee.

Bernard Avle expects to take a cash prize, a three bedroom house, as well as an SUV. Mr. Avle who joined the station as a 23-year old, thanked the owner of Citi FM, Samuel Atta-Mensah, for giving him an opportunity to make his mark.

Recently, he spearheaded the station’s successful campaign against illegal small-scale mining which drew the interest of other media organizations and Civil Society, leading to a decisive government action against the phenomenon.

Also, the Citi Breakfast Show was named the Radio Morning Show of the year 2017.

Mr. Avle’s work as a journalist has received numerous commendations for his depth and quality.

He has led Citi FM to win several awards through the Citi Breakfast Show and other quality news reports geared towards national development.

This year’s awards event which as held under the theme: “State of Investigative journalism: Boundaries of privacy and borders of the public interest” sought to bring into focus investigative journalism in Ghana.

Bernard Avle in an interview with Citi TV after picking the award said “I’m happy because this is a recognition of just what I have done, but what Citi stands for. This radio station has given me the opportunity for the past 14 years to prove myself. So if being one of the leading presenters on Citi, I win this award, it’s a Citi award. So I’m grateful to Sammens and the team for the support, encouragement, and guidance and for Team Citi for pushing me.”

Bernard Avle holds a Bachelors of Arts in Economics with distinction and is a Chevening Scholar with an MBA in Marketing from the Warwick Business School.