The Awards are hosted by the Publishers Support Services (PSS), formerly known as the Print and Digital Media of South Africa (PDMSA), an umbrella body incorporating print and digital media, and sponsored by Standard Bank.
The standard of the entries is still very high and Convening Judge, Paula Fray says there was increased representation from regional publications in the finalists. “There are strong entries from all reaches of the country.”
The judges were impressed by the continued growth in the multimedia and multiplatform categories, which Fray says is in line with the technology shift we are experiencing. “Since these categories have been introduced, they have grown year-on-year in terms of entries. This year we were also very impressed with the quality of multimedia. We still hope to see more multiplatform stories as this is an exciting category for the future of journalism.”
While investigative journalism is still a strong category, the finalists are not only political investigations: “There are more consumer and community investigations emerging. We are seeing newspapers holding local power bearers to account.”
While the categories hard news and feature writing, as per previous years, still boasted the most entries, the category enterprise journalism impressed the judges. “There were many good and unique enterprise stories, so it was a very difficult category to judge. The quality of the entries is a reflection of a shift of resources and investment into this category. This is a category we see growing in the future in both quality and quantity.
“The judges all felt that the winners this year are the best in the best and represent the role models for future journalists. As always, the judging process was very thorough. There are hundreds of entries and every single one is seen by at least two judges, in some cases by more than that. The finalists are discussed by all the judges and the final winners decided by a process of consensus."
