Annual Caxton Excellence Awards winners announced

Commented Gill Randall, joint MD of the Newspaper Advertising Bureau, “Congratulations to all our winners this year for consistently maintaining a high editorial and advertising standard. The Caxton Excellence Awards are just one way to acknowledge the enormous effort which goes into making each product as unique as the communities it represents.”

For this year's awards, four new categories were added to the mix, including Best Get It Journalist; Best Page Layout & Design of a Publication; Best Medium Written & Designed Magazine Format Advertisement and Best Large Written & Designed Magazine Format Advertisement.

Highlights

Highlights of winners are:

• Newspaper Journalist of the Year: David Savides (Zululand Observer). Highly commended: Daleen Naude (Middelburg Observer).

• Most Promising Newspaper Journalist of the Year: Joint winners – Nicolene Smalman (Lowvelder) and Mbongiseni Nene (Inkanyezi).

• Best Get It Journalist: Ingrid Casson (Get It Sandton Rosebank). Highly commended: Robyn Daly (Get It Cape Town).

• Field Salesperson of the Year: Louise Jacobs (Baywatch & Zululand Observer). Highly commended: Barry Schutte (Get it Pretoria).

• Best Get It Magazine: Fourways Bryanston (editor Kym Argo). Highly commended: Sandton Rosebank (editor Kym Argo).

• Free Newspaper of the Year (pagination less than 24): Berea Mail (editor Robyn Scott). Highly commended: The Hilltop (editor Wanda Daly).

• Free Newspaper of the Year (pagination 24 and more): Springs Advertiser (editor Cathy Grosvenor). Highly commended: South Coast Sun (editor Michelle le Roux).

• Sold Newspaper of the Year average Circulation 8000 and more: South Coast Herald (editor David Rush and group editor Colleen Haggard). Highly commended: Vaal Weekblad (editor Retha Fitchat).

• Best Headline Writer: Cathy Grosvenor (Springs Advertiser). No highly commended.

• Best Regular Column: ‘Post Halt No.II' by Martin Paul (Newcastle Advertiser). Highly commended: Cathy Grosvenor (Springs Advertiser).

• Best Investigative Reporting: Joint winners – Lynn Wilton of the Middelburg Observer and Zerelda Bam of Randfontein Herald.

• Best Feature Photograph: ‘Babe on the Loose' – Mariana Balt (White River Post). Highly commended: ‘Dangerous Games' by Dave Savides (Zululand Observer) and ‘Die Here Help Ons' by Danie Jacobs (Klerksdorp Rekord).

• Best Hard News Photograph: ‘Daring Rescue' by Christo Vermaak (Oudtshoorn Courant). Highly commended: ‘One Farmer, One Boer' by Lynn Wilton (Middelburg Observer) and ‘Tanker Inferno' by Larry Bentley (Zululand Observer).

• Ad Designer of the Year: Roelof Meintjies (West Rand). Highly commended: Sharon Trollip (Get It Durban)

• Best Regular Pullout Supplement/Publication: Leisure Options (Joburg North). Highly commended: Mpumalanga Mirror (Lowveld) and Auto Dealer Johannesburg.

Judges

The judges of the various categories were:

Editorial: Prof Guy Berger, Rhodes University; Ingrid Pepler, Metro Beeld; Anna Cox, The Star; Steve Motale, Pretoria News; Patti Garlick, Your Family; Martie Pansegrouw, Rooi Rose; Cedric Mboyisa, The Citizen; Jacquie Chemaly, Style, Elle and Food & Home magazines; Debbie McIntyre, Caxton Magazines; Angela Brooks, Caxton Magazines and John Bowles, NAB.

Advertising: Paul Maciel, Freelance Design Consultant; Michelle Wilson, Design & Marketing Consultant; Matthew Barnes, The Jupiter Drawing Room; Shawn Govender, Design Station; and Sam Morrison, Get It Magazine.

Photographic: Wessel Oosthuizen, The Citizen; Mariola Biel, The Citizen and Cor Zaal, Freelance Photographer.

Salesperson of the Year Categories: James McLuckie, former CEO of the Institute of Marketing Management; James Durieux, Caxton Newspaper Distributors; Maureen Burgess, Redbrick Training and Jyoti Govind, The Citizen.

Download the results here.
Download the awards statistics here.