By Tadias Staff
Published: Saturday, June 29, 2013
New York (TADIAS) – Tsedey Aragie, Tadias Magazine’s video reporter since 2010, has been honored by DCTV with the “Best at Viewers’ Choice” award for her TV program on the local public access channel highlighting health and lifestyle topics affecting residents of Washington, D.C.
Tsedey received the “New Producer of the Year and Innovative Program of the Year for creativity, production quality and audience impact” awards at a ceremony held in the District for her show entitled The 30-Day Health Challenge.
“I am very humbled by the awards,” said Tsedey, who shared the stage on June 22nd at the DCTV Viewers’ Choice Awards gala with other winners including Denise Rolark Barnes, publisher of The Washington Informer, whose publication was recognized in Sports category for an interview marking the resurgence of boxing in the District of Columbia.
“I can honestly say the awards came by surprise,” Tsedey told Tadias. “The purpose of the show is to educate and empower people to be proactive about their health and lifestyle and influence others around them.”
In an interview with The Washington Informer, Bob Thomas, DCTV’s vice president of operations, expressed his admiration for Tsedey and her contribution to the station. “I really appreciate her growth,” he said. “The awards are very important because they allow not-famous producers to become known.”
Tsedey, who was born in D.C. and raised in New Jersey, has covered several Ethiopia-related events in Washington and New York for Tadias, including the unforgettable performance by Debo Band and Fendika collective two years ago at the 41st annual Lincoln center summer music festival in New York, where she interviewed the band members, as well as the Director of Public Programming for Lincoln Center. The same year Tseday sat down with Ethiopian-born couture bridal fashion designer Amsale Aberra highlighting the reality TV show Amsale Girls, the celebrity designer’s success in the wedding-gown industry, and her memories of Ethiopia. More recently Tseday had a well received Google hangout session with Emmy award-winning Ethiopian American journalist Bofta Yimam, and a series of Town Hall meetings spotlighting mental health issues in the community, which has attracted the attention of health authorities both in the U.S. and Ethiopia.
Regarding The 30-Day Health Challenge on DCTV, Tsedey notes that the participants in the show are committed to a one month challenge to adopt long-term lifestyle changes. “The outcome has been outstanding,” she said. “In the 30-day period our participants experienced a range of results.” She added: “Some were able to loose 10-30 lbs., discontinue the use of blood pressure medication, reverse diabetes, and even discontinue the use of inhalers.”
Tsedey noted that this fall “The 30-Day Health Challenge Reality T.V. show” is going to Eleanor Roosevelt High School, a Maryland public magnet high school specializing in science, mathematics, technology, and engineering. “Very excited about that,” she said. “It has been my goal since the inception of the show to work with the youth. In this country the statistics are staggering and young people are suffering from high instances of obesity and diabetes. And so, I’m really looking forward to work in a field that I’m passionate about.”
