Bruce Cameron tops Citadel Awards

The judges – John Arneson of Financial Planning Institute (FPI), Prem Govender of FPI and CP Naidoo and Partners and Robert Brand of Rhodes University – unanimously handed the supreme crown to Cameron after adjudging that his various entries for the weekly Personal Finance newspaper and the magazine of the same name outclassed by far those of strong contenders such as Bruce Whitfield (FINweek and Summit TV) and Stephen Cranston (Financial Mail).

While Stephen Jones of Moneyweb won the electronic category award for various features concerning tax published on the Internet, Whitfield – fairly beaten by Cameron – bounced back by winning the print category prize for what the judges called exceptional features about bank charges published in FINweek.

Runners-ups in the electronic category include Whitfield (interviews published on Summit TV), Alec Hogg (for interviews broadcast on Moneyweb’s power hour and Vic de Klerk (for features published on the website Fin24.com).

Chairman’s Award

Interestingly, Financial Mail’s Cranston took home the Chairman’s Award for investigative reporting – yet again – for uncovering stories about the departure of the former pensions funds adjudicator and the unit trust industry.

Julius Cobett of Moneyweb won the Peregrine Hedge Fund Award. The list of those who came second in the print category is as follows:

• Suzette Truter of Sarie (consumer magazines)
  
• Laura du Preez of Personal Finance (business magazines)
  
• Erika van der Merwe of Moneyweb (daily column)
  
• Stephen Cranston of Financial Mail (weekly column)
  
• Barry Sergeant of Moneyweb Business in the Citizen (daily feature) and David van Rooyen of Sake-Rapport (weekly feature).

Addressing the audience shortly before the handing over session, Peregrine Holdings’ chief executive Keith Betty said: “The role that you play is critical, acting as a watchdog for the industry regulators, which is a massive responsibility.

“While many of the entrants are previous winners of the categories, it must be said that the quality of reporting on matters related to personal financial issues and investment is absolutely excellent, leaving consumers and investors spoilt for choice when selecting media for this kind of information.”

According to the judges, all entries received in 2007 were of a very high standard, which made judging quite difficult, Betty said.

He also said that the prize money for 2008 will be increased, with details of this important decision to be announced in the months ahead.

Apart from a few laureates who did not attend the event due to work commitments, the Citadel Words on Money Awards ceremony was well-attended by all stakeholders of the country’s financial journalism – a sign that the awards, now on its eighth year, are being given a special recognition by many practitioners and decision-makers of the industry.