Daily Trust endows DAME prize for Editorial Integrity Abuja-based Daily Trust has endowed a new prize for journalists with the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence. It is the Daily Trust prize for Editorial Integrity. The award will go to the journalist adjudged to have demonstrated uncommon acts of courage and ethical conduct in discharging professional duties in a particular year. It is open to all journalists, who must state in not more than 500 words the challenges faced in the line of duty and how they overcame them. The award consists of a laptop, cash prize, and commemorative plaque and certificate. The award is propelled by Trust's perceived need to encourage journalists to pay more attention to issues of ethics and reassure them that journalism is only meaningful as a tool of development when it is practised ethically. Presenting the sponsorship cheque to DAME, Mr. Isiaq Ajibola, Managing Director of the Trust Media, congratulated DAME "for the relentless efforts being undertaken in ensuring that the journalism profession is sustained on the path of its historic glory as the fourth estate of the realm." He stated that this unique award category of D.A.M.E. “will serve as a modest incentive for journalists who toe the straight but narrow path and display high standards in the discharge of their duties.” Mr. Ajibola echoed the dissent of many media stakeholders to gratifications to journalists. Gratifications, he noted, have brought only disrespect to journalists and compromised professional standards in some cases. He said the Daily Trust and other papers in its stable; Weekly Trust, Sunday Trust and Aminiya, already have a policy to punish any employee who solicits or accepts gratification. The organization, he said, has also rewarded who reject bribe from the government. In his response, DAME Trustee, Mr. Lanre Idowu, thanked the Trust for the collaboration, promising to uphold the confidence reposed in the organisation. He said in partnering with DAME, Trust was joining many forward-looking media organizations such as Vanguard, The Guardian, News Agency of Nigeria, Voice of Nigeria, and FRCN, who are all DAME sponsors. He expressed the hope that the prize would be keenly contested and that journalism and the nation would be better for it. Mr. Idowu commended Daily Trust for being a strong voice in promoting a pluralistic harmony. Daily Trust, he noted, is a national paper from the Northern part of the country. He expressed his delight that more Nigerians now appreciate the effort this media awards platform makes to recognise excellence since 1992. He called on more corporate bodies to sponsor D.A.M.E. in order to administer the awards more efficiently.