It’s Mondi Awards month!

Mondi Paper Newspaper Awards 2003 short list:

There were 692 entries submitted by journalists and freelance writers from 29 different newspapers this year. A shortlist of 21 candidates across seven categories has been compiled. Sponsored by Mondi Paper and endorsed by the Newspaper Association of South Africa (NASA), the Newspaper Awards are intent on acknowledging South African newspaper journalists who excel in their profession and who exhibit unsurpassed distinction in the various disciplines of newspaper journalism. These disciplines have been fashioned as best possible into the categories of News Writing, Feature Writing, Investigative Journalism, Creative and Opinionated Journalism, Graphical Journalism, Photographic and Presentation.

NEWS WRITING
Estelle Ellis and Jeremy Gordin of The Star for "Pressure mounts on Ngcuka's accusers", a series of stories on the Hefer Commission; Vuyisile Ngesi of Diamond Fields Advertiser for "Wheels of corruption", a series of articles exposing the corruption allegations against a Northern Cape MEC; and Clinton van der Berg of Sunday Times for "Boks trained at gunpoint", a story on Kamp Staaldraad.

FEATURE WRITING
Fred Khumalo of ThisDay for "Decoding the book of Jacob", a profile on Deputy President Jacob Zuma; Lizel Steenkamp of Beeld for various entries from a feature on a post-war Baghdad, to a portrait of the Melville police station; and The Star's Nalisha Kalideen for "A fall of sparrows", a three-part series on the lives of two women living in a hospice.

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
the Mail and Guardian's Wisani wa ka Ngobeni receives two nominations - one for a collaborative piece with Matuma Letsoalo, titled "Is Mabona the dirtiest politician in South Africa?" on corruption allegations against Mpumalanga MEC Steve Mabona, and the second for "Shadow falls on Lekota", a series on Defence Minister Terror Lekota's undeclared business interests. The M&G's Stefaans Brümmer and Sam Sole are nominated for an in-depth series of articles on the major SA oil purchase scandal titled "Mega oil scandal rocks SA".

CREATIVE AND OPINIONATED JOURNALISM
Die Burger's Willemien Brümmer with her regular column titled "Lyfskryf"; Jeremy Gordin with his entry "Spying a baffled bunch in Bloemfontein", a series on the Hefer Commission, from The Star; and Ruth Helen Walne of Daily News for "The Dying Man", a series on the death of an AIDS-sufferer.

GRAPHICAL JOURNALISM
Jonathan Shapiro, Zapiro cartoonist; and Anton Vermeulen of Beeld for his entry "Geweld op kampus", an illustration on violence against women.

PHOTOGRAPHIC
Debbie Yazbek of The Star for her portfolio titled "A fall of sparrows", Rian Horn of ThisDay for "The Hefer Commission" and Lisa Skinner of Beeld for "Innocent Victim".

PRESENTATION
Diamond Fields Advertiser's Johan du Plessis for "Dam of Death", Rapport's Arlene Prinsloo for her entry titled "Die groot uitskud van Afrikaner organisasies" and Beeld's Andries Gouws' "9/11 twee jaar later".

An eighth category, South African Story of the Year, has only one finalist and the winner in this category will be announced at the awards ceremony on 6 May at the Sandton Sun.

Mondi Magazines Awards shortlist 2003:

The 14th annual Mondi Paper Magazine Awards had a record 871 entries this year. Mondi Paper, in conjunction with the Magazine Publishers Association of South Africa (MPASA), has put up a total of R150,000 in prize money for the 15 categories. The winners and finalists will be acknowledged at an awards ceremony at the Sandton Hilton on Wednesday 19 May 2004.

BUSINESS
Deon Basson for "Papiergoëlaars van die sakewêreld" in Insig; Paul Kirk and Martin Welz for "The Frame Affair" in Noseweek.

INDUSTRY
Megan Chronis for "Publishing's (Almost) Free Lunch" in The Media;
Elizabeth Shorten for "The engineer in shining armour" in IMIESA.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS
Suzy Brokensha for "Up in smoke" in Marie Claire; Andy Ellis for "Swimming upstream" in Men's Health; Prevashni Ramsamy for "Designer babies" in Longevity; Laura Twiggs for "We're leading our fathers' lives!" in Essentials.

BEAUTY
Marianne Campbell for "Your skin at 20, 30, 40, 50" in Femina; Christine Ferreira for "Mooi soos jy" in Sarie; Glynis Horning for "Why I love her body" in Marie Claire; Leigh Toselli for "Loud, proud and all pumped up" in Y mag.

AT HOME
Sonja Jordt for "Wat 'n vangs!" in Sarie; Tina-Marié Malherbe for "Purrsuede" in Visi Colour; Annemarie Meintjes for "Skop nes" in Visi
René Slee for "Inheemse skoonhede" in Rooi Rose

REVIEWS
Mandy Allen for "Design News – The A-Z of Car Design" in House and Leisure; Jono Hall for "The English Roses" in SL Sally Kramer for "Test House Reviews" in Fairlady; Ivor Powell for "Ed Young's Bruce Gordon" in Art South Africa.

ESSAYS & FICTION
Rupert Haw for "Balls for a rainbow nation in GQ"; Ami Kapilevich for "Roots" in Citylife; Dana Snyman for "Op die spoor – Treinreeks" in Huisgenoot; Peter van Noord for "Heilige Parys" in Insig.

FORESIGHT
Itumeleng Mahabane for "On the brink of growing up" in Y mag; Glynis O'Hara for "Twice Tortured" in True Love; March Turnbull for "Bonobo: An ape in decline" in Africa Geographic; Nicolien Zuijdgeest for "Emptying the Ocean" in Africa Geographic.

LEISURE
Andy Ellis for "Braving the Wild" in Far Out (Men's Health supplement); Ami Kapilevich for "Oh, Carolina!" in Citylife; Michael Schmidt for "I'll moer you, bru!" in FHM; Kate Wilson for "Are you lonesome tonight?" in Marie Claire.

FASHION
Robert Bell for "Downtown girl" in Style; Jackie Burger for "Hidden treasures" and "Suit yourself" in Fairlady; Kassie Naidoo for "Meet the parents" in Y; Chris Viljoen for "Supa Cool" in FHM

COLUMNS
Stephen Francis for Humour columns in Discovery; Force Khashane for "Talking muthi" with Force columns in Bona; André Le Roux for "Op die vrou af" columns in Sarie; Kgafela oa Mogagodi for "The Spoken Word" columns in Y.

DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION
Jason Bronkhorst for "Revolution" in SL; Robert Cilliers for "The Player" in GQ; Sophie Perryer, Abbey Volks and Brendon Bell-Roberts for the Kendell Geers cover of "Art South Africa"; Mark Serra for "Cate, catch her if you can" in Femina.

PHOTOGRAPHY
Phyllis Green for "Vrou met uil" in Sarie; Sean Laurenz for "Why I love her body" in Marie Claire; Patrick Ryan for "Skin" in SL; Caroline Suzman for "Alexandra: the dark city revealed" in Sawubona.

REPORTAGE
Jo-Ann Bekker for "Why I'm suing my married ex-lover for breach of promise" in Femina; Hannelie Booyens for the Ginn Fourie-reeks in Huisgenoot; Margie Orford for "For Sale: Human Trafficking" in Marie Claire; Karina Turok for "Mind the gap" in Marie Claire.

FEATURES
Mike Behr for "Ghetto defendant" in SA Sports Illustrated; Stacy Hardy for "Last Rites" in SL; Darren Taylor for "War brews on the Battlefields Route" in Farmer's Weekly; Kirby van der Merwe for "Terug na Brandfort" in Insig