The 26th presentation of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence holds next Wednesday at the Agip Recital Hall, Muson Centre.

It will be a fitting finale to a rigorous exercise that will honour the best of the Nigerian media at a daytime ceremony for the first time in DAME’s long history.

As is usual with DAME, prizes will not be given in all the advertised categories to emphasize the award’s competitiveness.

While receiving the report of the DAME panel of judges, Wednesday, DAME trustee, Mr. Lanre Idowu thanked members for their labour of love, saying exercises such as DAME are necessary for the good health of the country as they help to benchmark standards.

He said the economic crunch in the country has affected preparation for this year’s exercise as sponsorship funding has reduced.

Rather than compromise standards, he said DAME has cut back on some expenses and thanked the judges for their understanding and support in ensuring they met the deadline.

He thanked the sponsors who have kept the faith, saying they are “supporters of a greater Nigeria” and prayed for better times for other sponsors who could not participate this year.