Out of 94 entries - the highest since its inception - from 37 journalists working for 27 different media organisations, Bruce Cameron of Personal Finance emerged as the overall winner for the fourth time. Rob Rose of Financial Mail, winner in the 2006 print category, won the Chairman's Award for investigative reporting.
Another Financial Mail journalist, Stephen Cranston, walked away with the Peregrine Award, adding to his overall winning prize he took home in 2000.
While Cameron triumphed with the breaking news award, the consumer education's highest prize was awarded to Helen Ueckermann for features published in Manwees magazine.
Veteran and versatile journalist Alec Hogg took home the best feature award for interviews broadcast on Moneyweb's Power Hour radio programme. Cameron's colleague, Laura du Preez came second best after Hogg, scooping the runner-up award.
Sikonathi Mantshantsha, of FinWeek, won the analysis and opinion award and The Times Xolile Bhengu, the new kid on the block, won the Newcomer of the Year Award - a category's entries that highly impressed the judges.
However, a sombre and emotional atmosphere filled the air inside the SQ Restaurant where it was announced that the late Tonny Mafu was awarded the consumer education merit award for his outstanding articles published in Business Report.
“We thank you all and duly recognise the great job that you are doing out there, which certainly is helping many in our communities to make wise and better decisions,” Citadel CEO Neil Brown told the audience.
“For the 2008 the award, categories were changed to allow entrants to compete on content and not by media category as before. The popular topics of 2007 were the Fidentia scandal and the new credit act and its implications for investors. Financial issues for lower income earners also attracted the judges' attention,” Brown added.
The judges for this year's award include Robert Brand, Rhodes University's Pearson Chair of Economic Journalism; John Arneson, CE of Financial Planning Institute (FPI); Prem Govender, FPI chairperson;, and Nicolas Kotch, freelance journalist and media trainer and former Reuters bureau chief.
