Cleopatra Jones is Journalist of the Year at 2016 RDMAs

Judged by a mix of media experts consisting of Rebecca Davis, Joanne Botha, Aurelia Mbokazi, Brendah Nyakudya and Zodwa Nogilana, the 2016 winners are:

• Mia Malan won best Newspaper for her article in the Mail & Guardian titled “The unforgiving days of too much wine and never enough roses.” The article is an in-depth exploration of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) within certain communities. Mia interviewed a number of parties affected by FAS and used their testimonies to drive her message home.

• Jessica Anne Wood won the Best Online category for “The cost of addiction. Reaching the road of recovery,” on Moneybags. Jessica explored all forms of substance abuse with a particularly good insight into the abuse of alcohol.

• Best Magazine went to Vida Li Sik for her article in Drum magazine “Living with an alcoholic.” This was a fantastic account of what to do and where to go as the spouse of an alcoholic.

• Cleopatra Jones won Best Broadcast for her insightful exposé on SABC’s Special Assignment. She included interviews with young, recovering alcoholics and explored the root causes of the disease.

• Best Community Media was won by Desiree Rorke, for her piece in the Tygerburger titled “What do you drink if you don’t drink” which is less about alcoholism but an interesting read about drinking too much.

• Charita van der Berg (MFM) won Best Campus Media for her radio insert, which includes an interview with the mother of a child who was killed by a drunk driver.

• Journalist of the Year went to Cleopatra Jones for the best overall entry

• Media House of the Year was awarded to Media 24 for having submitted the most amount of entries this year.

Public vote winner

Finally, to mix things up a little and get the South African public involved, Diageo SA opened up all the finalists’ articles to a public vote on Facebook. Nicole John was selected as the winner of the Consumers’ Choice Award for her article in Maritzburg Fever titled “SADD educates students about alcohol use.”

“We want to thank each journalist for creating content that gets South Africans thinking responsibly about the way they consume alcohol. These awards have been put in place to acknowledge and encourage them to keep doing so,” says Jeff Milliken, md of Diageo South Africa.

The winner of each category won R15,000 and was publicly acknowledged for her efforts to help combat alcohol abuse in South Africa. For more information, go to https://diageordma.co.za.