23 journalists were acknowledged in the fourth annual Mondi Shanduka Newspaper Awards at the Sandton Sun last night, with judges praising the standard of the 589 entries received.Professor Guy Berger, convenor of the judging panel and head of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, comments: "The winning entries demonstrate that South Africa's newsrooms have invested in the kind of calibre of individuals and teams needed to deliver quality journalism. The results have enriched public life, and given the country a taste of what more newspapers should be doing."
The event also honoured the winners of Frewin, McCall and Joel Mervis Awards, a competition in which newspapers are judged on all areas from advertising, to print and production, to layout and typography, to the balance between the use of pictures and graphics.
 Former and long time colleague of the late Dr Aggrey Klaaste, Ms Angie Makwetla, receives the Lifetime Achiever Award from Mondi Shanduka chairman Cyril Ramaphosa on behalf of the Klaaste family. |
The evening further incorporated the annual announcement of the Print Media Fellows as well as a new award, the Lifetime Achiever Award.
In the BREAKING NEWS category, the winners are Jonathan Ancer and Solly Maphumulo for "Too dirty to live" in The Star.
"Too dirty to live", a story of a sick and homeless man left to die by paramedics, highlighted the plight of homeless people in vivid, descriptive language. It was followed up to the point where the man was identified and his family brought into the story as it unfolded. It culminated in the dismissal of the two paramedics. The journalists must be commended for staying with the story and bringing it to life with narrative skill, accuracy and completeness.
The finalists in this category are Adriaan Basson, Dries Liebenberg and Jan-Jan Joubert for their article "Samaritaan of skurk?" in Beeld and Lizel Steenkamp, Adriaan Basson and André Janse van Vuuren for "Waar's haar ontvoerders?", also in Beeld. Judges commended Erika Gibson of Beeld for her article "Op pad na 'n staatsgreep" and Elsabé Brits for "Koop my eiersel" in Die Burger.
Johann Maarman is the winner in the ANALYSIS, FOLLOW-UPS AND COMMENTARY category for "Koffie, kondensmelk en bruinsuiker" in Rapport.
Maarman provided a lyrically humorous take on serious identity issues, writing sharply about language, religion and race while at the same time weighing up their political implications. His well-written and well-structured pieces place him on a par with South Africa's leading columnists. Through his writing flows both the essence of the broad issue as well as a concentration of detail that never fails to enrich.
The finalists are Philip de Bruin of Beeld for "Om te skiet of nie te skiet nie" and Sunday Times' Fred Khumalo and Rowan Philp for "America Divided". Elsabé Brits of Die Burger receives a commendation for her piece "Grondwetlik bevry, maar steeds in kettings".
Clinching the Mondi Shanduka nib in the FEATURE WRITING category is Susan Winters for her "Hamba Kamnandi" column in Daily Dispatch.
Winters managed to shine a fresh light on the often numbingly familiar story of HIV/Aids. With a style that showed compassion and dignity, but was never sentimental, she wrote of the last months and years of the life of 'Nokwanda'. It became an intimate, evocative take that was pursued with rigour over a two-year period.
The other finalists are Jonathan Ancer of The Star for "He is drunk, or stoned, or both ... this is the hope of a dying nation" and Vicki Robinson for "Strangers in a new land" in Mail & Guardian. Graeson Haw of Southern Mail receives a commendation for "Did the system kill Mervyn Lombard".
There were no finalists nominated for an award in the INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM category. Dumisane Lubisi was, however, commended for his article "ANC big gun eye Telkom" in Sunday Times.
The CREATIVE JOURNALISM winner is Jeremy Gordin of Sunday Independent for his "Karen Bliksem" columns.
Gordin describes his entries from the Sunday Independent's "Karen Bliksem" column as his "attempt, on a weekly basis, to comment on aspects of the week's news in as irreverent, provocative, entertaining and buxom, sorry, amusing, ... a manner as possible". He succeeds in this without being cynical or maudlin.
The finalists were Neels Blom of Business Day for "Fly fishing on Wednesday" and Die Burger's Willemien Brummer for a series of pieces in her column "Oop Kaarte". Kushatha Ndibi is commended for "How I became a black female PW Botha" in The Star.
It's a joint win in the GRAPHICAL JOURNALISM category for Anton Vermeulen of Naweek-Beeld for "Slawe van genetika"; "'n Ruimer kerk-huis" and "Skrif aan die muur" and Jonathan "Zapiro" Shapiro for his cartoon "Bush, Mugabe, van Schalkwyk and Brenda Fassie".
Morné Schaap of Beeld receives a commendation for "Leigh se graf in gras".
Winning the NEWS PHOTOGRAPHS category is Sharief Jaffer of Rapport for "2010: Die verhaal van twee sirkusse". Jaffer's winning picture was of tears on the expressive face of a woman after learning that South Africa had won the 2010 Soccer World Cup bid. It was an example of a photographer ready to record history.
The finalists are Steve Lawrence of The Star for "The strong arm of the law" and James Oatway for "Miracle baby born amid chaos in central Jo'burg on New Year's Eve" published in former ThisDay newspaper. Judges have commended Brenda Muller for "Karabo se ma moet stukke van haar lewe optel" in Beeld.
The FEATURE PHOTOGRAPHS category winner is The Star's Neo Ntsoma for "The toughest women in South Africa", a series of photographs of the first female intake into the South African Police Service's Special Task Force.
The only other finalist in this category is Die Burger's Simone Scholtz for "Vissers van wense". Felix Dlangamandla receives a commendation for "Rietdans" in Beeld.
This year's winner in the PRESENTATION category is Andries Gouws of Beeld for "Die Party is verby", a story to which he applied an effective headline of the electoral defeat of the New National Party and made good use of graphics and a clever caption under the main picture.
The finalists are Glenn Bownes for "Thanks for calling me a liar" in Cape Times and Die Burger's Arlene Prinsloo for "55 000+ met natuur se krag van aarde gespoel". The judges have commended Grant Templeton for his presentation in The Herald's "Fun at the coast" supplement.
The winner of the SOUTH AFRICAN STORY OF THE YEAR is Wisani wa ka Ngobeni for his article "ANC Youth League's Business Empire" in Mail & Guardian. This outstanding piece uncovered information about the ANC Youth League's leadership, which was apparently not even known within the ranks of the organisation itself.
Given the historic role of the league as "kingmakers" in the ANC, their extensive - and often dubious - business dealings, and their linkages with characters like Brett Kebble, gave deep insight into emerging networks of power and influence. Ngobeni's articles revealed how far the league had come from its rhetorical socialist past, and rise of business rather than political ambitions among its leaders. Persistence in unravelling this complex and difficult story eventually led to resignations within the organisation.
 Group of Winners - back from left: All the winners. Well, almost. Jeremy "Karen Bliksem" Gordin (Creative Journalism) not pictured. Anton Vermeulen (Graphical Journalism), Wisani wa ka Ngobeni (SA Story of the Year), Jonathan 'Zapiro' Shapiro (Graphical Journalism), Neo Ntsoma (Feature Photos), Susan Winters (Feature Writing), Jonathan Ancer (Breaking News). Front from left:Solly Maphumulo (Breaking News), Andries Gouws (Presentation), Sharief Jaffer (News Photos), Johann Maarman (Analysis, Follow-ups and Commentary) |
