Mondi Paper Newspaper Awards 2003 calls for entries

The Newspaper Awards - sponsored by South Africa's largest newsprint supplier Mondi Paper and endorsed by the Newspaper Association of South Africa (NASA) - seek to acknowledge journalists who display distinction in the diverse disciplines of South African newspaper journalism.

The competition - open to all newspaper journalists employed on a full-time or freelance basis by a South African newspaper - invites entries in seven categories: News Writing, Feature Writing, Investigative Journalism, Creative and Opinionated Journalism, Graphical Journalism, Photographic and Presentation (Layout and Design). The judging panel will nominate finalist entries for the South African Story of the Year category.

"This call for entries comes at a time when cases of plagiarism, fabrication and politicking have given journalism a bad press," says Professor Guy Berger, convenor of the judging panel and head of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University. "But we are confident that there is enough top quality work out there to justify this competition and help restore journalism to its rightful status," he adds.

This year Portia Kobue, news editor for Kaya FM, and Ruth Seopedi Motau, freelance photographer, join the esteemed judging comprising Johan de Wet (former editor of Rapport), Professor Jakes Gerwel (prominent academic, university leader and former cabinet secretary), Zubeida Jaffer (freelance writer and former head of Independent Newspaper's parliamentary bureau), Peter Magubane (renowned veteran South African photojournalist), Ken Owen (former Sunday Times editor) and Joe Thloloe (head of news at e-tv).

The closing date for entries is 13 February 2004. Entries must consist of the journalist's own work which has been published in South African daily or weekly newspapers between 1 January 2003 and 1 January 2004.

Winners and finalists will be honoured at an awards ceremony on 6 May 2004 at the Sandton Sun. The three finalists in each category will receive a framed certificate.

Call for entries booklets are available from NASA. Contact Cathy Pestana on (011) 721-3200/1/2 or or download it from the Mondi Paper website at www.mondipaper.co.za. Kindly note that you will require Acrobat Reader to access the file. Acrobat Reader can be downloaded from the Adobe website (www.adobe.com).

Competition Categories:

1. News Writing:

Original journalism that deals with fast breaking news, and which is written freshly and with high quality graphic description, pointed news salience, multi-sourcing and logical structure. Accuracy and completeness will also be considered.

2. Feature Writing:

Journalism that has entailed enterprise, investigation and persistence in gathering the information and which shows skill in telling the story. Feature writing may cover profiles, interviews, travel, trends etc. Quality of language, narrative skill, story structure and descriptive power of the features will also be considered in judging.

3. Investigative Journalism:

This is generally in-depth journalism resulting in scoops. Consideration will be given to research, perseverance, courage and innovation.

4. Creative and Opinionated Journalism:

This includes columns, creative writing and humorous pieces. Columns would be clear, engaging, persuasive and arguing a cogent case. Readability interpretation and relevance to readers will be considered. Creative and humorous writing is entertaining without becoming pure fiction. Attention will be given to the use of language, wit and cross-cultural sensitivity.

5. Graphical Journalism:

Cartoons, comic strips and info-graphics count here. Images should be pithy, vivid and pointed. Creativity and cleverness in concept, quality of imagery or drawing, and simplicity and topicality will be considered. The message should make a point in a distinctive way that photographs or text alone could not do. Entrants should motivate why their work scores on these criteria.

6. Photographic:

News or feature photographs that tell a story and which demonstrate reporting initiative will be considered. Excellence in composition, lighting, action and other photographic qualities will also be taken into account. The judges will assess both the original image and how it lent itself to being presented, and therefore require a copy of both the original and the page on which it appeared.

7. Presentation (Layout and Design):

Content and headline treatment, the use of photographs and graphics and overall design will be assessed for clarity, readability and aesthetic attractiveness. The treatment as a whole will be assessed as journalism.

8. South Africa Story of the Year:

No entries are accepted for this category: instead the judges will select a winner from the range of entries in the other categories. This agenda-setting and original journalism contributes to society by giving new insight into the changing character of South Africa. Evidence of impact - such as changes and reforms resulting from the work - will be taken into account.