Call to enter Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards

12 Dec 2006

The battle lines have been drawn. It's time to mobilise for an award worth winning -a Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Award. Aligned with the theme Weapons of Mass Discussion, the sixth annual newspaper journalism competition seeks to pay tribute to journalists who have fought for excellence in their crafts of hard news, analysis and commentary, feature writing, investigative journalism and creative journalism.

The Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards, presented by the Newspaper Association of South Africa and Mondi Shanduka Newsprint, also honours photographers, graphic journalists and layout artists who have armed themselves with a camera, an artist's pen or a computer mouse to capture the news of the day or the week through pictures, imagery or presentation.

This competition is completely separate to the annual Mondi Magazine Publishers Awards which are under review.

D-Day is Friday, 9 February 2007 and the awards ceremony will take place at the Sandton Hilton Hotel, Johannesbug, on Wednesday, 25 April 2007.

Nine new judges

This year's judging panel brings on board nine new judges: Ebbe Dommisse, former editor of Die Burger; Ivan Fynn, former editor of Cape Argus; Alf Kumalo, veteran award-winning photojournalist; Ruda Landman, television journalist and co-anchor of Carte Blanche; Irwin Manoim, founding editor of the Mail and Guardian; Kaizer Nyatsumba, former editor of The Mercury; Phil Mtimkulu, founding editor of The Voice; Caroline Southey, former editor of Financial Mail; and Sophie Tema, award-winning journalist.

They join convenor Guy Berger, head of media studies and journalism at Rhodes University; John Dludlu, former editor of Sowetan; and Sarah Crowe, former TV news editor.

Judges will select a winner from the range of entries in the respective categories, or an overall winning entry for the South African Story of the Year. At their discretion, the judges will nominate a South African Journalist of the Year for outstanding performance during the period of entry for work that demonstrates exceptional endeavour and world class quality.

Golden Nib

Fire off your entries to test if you can hit the target of excellence and claim your victory of R10000 cash, a Mondi Shanduka Golden Nib and a framed certificate. Commendation certificates will be awarded at the judges' discretion.

Industry peers are invited to nominate individuals for the Lifetime Achiever Award by means of a written letter of motivation with supporting material where possible.

The Lifetime Achiever Award will honour a sustained and extraordinary contribution to newspaper journalism on the part of an individual whose journalism career should have spanned at least 20 years. Previous winners include David Hazelhurst and the late Dr Aggrey Klaaste.

So remember, D-Day is Friday, 9 February 2007. Send your entries to the Newspaper Association of South Africa, 5th Floor, Nedbank Gardens, 33 Bath Avenue, Rosebank.

For more information and a copy of the entry booklet, please contact Sandipa Shah Seeparsad or Cathy Pestana on +27 (0)11 721 3200 or email .

A PDF version of the entry booklet can be downloaded from www.mondishanduka.co.za.