Safrea members scoop awards

Western Cape freelance journalist Kristin Palitza was awarded the International Federation of the Red Cross Award for Humanitarian Journalism in Africa. She is a freelance journalist and correspondent writing in-depth African features for the South African, German and UK print media.

Western Cape science and environmental writer Leonie Joubert, won the 2009 SAB Environmental Journalist of the Year print and internet category for her writing in Boiling Point: people in a changing climate and her latest book, Invaded: the Biological Invasion of South Africa, both of which were released during the competition year. She is the author of Scorched: South Africa's changing climate.

Other award winners

This year has seen several other Safrea members win media awards.

Durban journalist Sharon Davis won the KZN regional round of the Vodacom Journalist of the Year Award in the Online category in September, while fellow KZN writer Silvia Nilsen from Westville was runner-up in the 2009 SA Travel Blog of the Year Award. Staying with travel writing, specialist travel writer Caroline Hurry of Johannesburg won the international Friend of Thailand Travel Writing Award, the first South African to do so.

Capetonian Lynne Smit was nominated for the South African Agency for Science & Technology Advancement/National Science and Technology Forum Award as South Africa's top Science Communicator.

In the field of property writing, fellow Cape Town journalist Jackie Cameron won the award for Best Feature Journalist at the SA Property Owners Association Property Awards. Ed Suter, also from Cape Town, received a Special Mention for property feature writing at the same event.

Safrea founder member and veteran media consultant Marion Scher published her book Surviving the SA Media - building bridges to make the media more accessible.

Finally, Johannesburg photographer Chris Powrie was crowned Gauteng Wedding's Wedding Photographer of the Year during 2009.

Resource pool

Safrea chairperson Clive Lotter says the awards show the quality and variety of media professionals available within Safrea ranks, which makes the organisation an indispensible resource pool for editors and freelancers alike.

“Requests for specialist writers, photographers and designers received are matched with the appropriate media professionals within hours, if not minutes, a fact that editors faced with crunching deadlines hugely appreciate,” he says.

“But not only editors benefit from our pooled resources. Part of our mandate is to set and maintain media professional standards within the organisation, which we maintain by a tradition of nurturing and sharing talent to the benefit of members. The knowledge resource within the organisation is huge, and is freely and eagerly shared within the group. These awards are living proof of those high standards,” he says.

Safrea invites full-time media professionals to join through its web presence at www.safrea.co.za.