Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile community, has joined other leading companies as one of the main sponsors of the Malta Journalism Awards (MJAs).

This year, the 15th edition of the MJAs will be taking place and Vodafone will be sponsoring the ‘Features’ section of the Print Journalism Category.

For this year’s competition there will be a total of 12 categories not including the Gold Award, which is sponsored by BPC, which for many years has been supporting the Institute of Maltese Journalists (IGM).

For the first time, this year’s MJAs will also see an award being presented to the ‘Journalist of the Year’, who will also be given an attachment with a UK based newspaper or broadcast station.

In previous editions there was only one award in the Print Journalism Category. This year, however, due to the high level of participation in this category it has been decided to divide this category in two. One category will be awarded for ‘News’ and the other, which is being sponsored by Vodafone, for ‘Features’. Although Vodafone is a new sponsor of the MJAs, the company has been helping the IGM for many years.

IGM president, Malcolm J Naudi and IGM secretary Joe A. Vella recently held a meeting at Vodafone’s head office with the company’s brand manager, Alison Bezzina. During the meeting the forthcoming MJAs were discussed and Ms Bezzina also presented the sponsorship cheque.

Ms Bezzina said that Vodafone is renowned around the world for the support it gives to numerous activities and that the company is delighted to contribute to an event which will continue to strengthen the unity among journalists and at the same time reward those who produce the best work.

On the other hand, Messers Naudi and Vella thanked Vodafone for the support it has given to the Institute of Maltese Journalists not only on this occasion but also for the support given in the past especially in the setting up of the IGM’s journalistic library.

This year’s MJAs will take place at the AudioVision Centre on Monday 14 November 2005.